Keira, MD
by CatWoman4Ever
Summary: Chapter 13 is up. The trial begins and Tess gets ready for surgery. Plus, Ashelin gets a taste of Cuddy's job and things heat up between two characters. But you have to read to find out who. J & D, House, M.D. crossover.
1. Poison, pt 1

_**It's my sequel to "Jak, M.D."! Jak, Keira, and Daxter are being thrusted into the world of medicine. Keira is now one of House's elite doctors. And Jak is storming the streets as an EMT, while Daxter gets the not-so-glamorous job of being House's personal spy. This is going to be an ongoing fanfic, with ongoing mysteries and drama. So this fic has no intention of stopping anytime soon! I'll usually be starting each chapter with "background" information on what happened to the patient before they landed themselves in House's care. This is a two part case. So chapter 1 is only part 1, and the patient is a bit of a surprise guest, but he'll be making more appearences in chapter 2. **_

_**For those that haven't read "Jak, M.D.", here's a little background information on House's team and the rest of the gang. If you have read "Jak, M.D." already, you can skip this part and go to the story.**_

_**Dr. Lisa Cuddy: Hospital Director and Dean of Medicine **_

_**Dr. Gregory House: head of the department of diagnostic medicine. **_

_**Dr. Allison Cameron: Immunologist and she works under House. **_

_**Dr. Robert Chase: Intensivist, also works under House. **_

_**Dr. Eric Foreman: Neurologist, another member of House's team **_

_**Keira: Hematologist/Intensivist, works under House as well. **_

_**Jak: works with the Emergency Medical Transport Team, and is House's case manager **_

_**Daxter: House's personal spy for medical purposes **_

_**Stacy: Haven City Teaching Hospital's lawyer. Recently divorced from her husband, she is now currently staying with House. **_

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---- "And Razor wins the race, once more!" An announcer shouted excitedly as the car roared across the line.

He took a hand and smoothed the hair on his head. Razor eased back in his seat and pulled out a cigarette and lighter. He lit the cigarette and took a few puffs from it. All that he did was smile smugly as he took off his seat belt and stepped out of the car. Razor seemed to lose his balence. In a moment of haze, he felt himself stumble, and he grabbed onto his car to prevent himself from falling. "M---medic..." He collapsed to the ground and his voice trailed off.

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---- Ambulence sirens sceramed through the streets of Haven City. Citizens fled out of the way to allow the ambulence through. This was Jak's job, and he was the one at the wheel. It may seem strange for Jak to be working for a hospital, but Jak found a fond love for his new job as an EMT. Imagine being able to speed through the streets of Haven City as fast as you wanted to, and never have to worry about being pulled over. And at the same time he was saving a life. To Jak, this was a job that was filled with rewards.

Jak rounded a corner and brought the ambulence to a hasty stop at the side of Haven City Teaching Hospital that led to the ER wing. As other doctors towed the patient out on a stretcher, Jak jogged up to one of the doctors that was on board with the patient. "So, what's the story with this one?"

The doctor handed Jak the file they had compiled, "I think that this is a case that Dr. House may find interesting. Male, age thirty-one, he's also a very popular combat racer. I think his name is Razor. " The doctor looked down at the file. "Yup, that's him. Really strange symptoms: sudden fainting spell, nausea, etc. Kinda weird, huh?"

"Sure is, I'll take this to House." Jak took the file and briskly walked into the hospital. He waved a hello to the nurses, as he always did, and continued walking towards the elevador. That is until he caught a glimpse of House boarding the elevador, you couldn't mistake the cane if you tried. Jak broke into an all out run and slipped into the elevador just in time before the door closed.

"Damn," House said with an annoyed tone as he noted the file Jak was carrying. "the door just couldn't close fast enough."

Jak tried to ignore his comment and decided he'd recite the symptoms to House, "Thirty-one year old male. Sudden fainting spell, nausea, and vomiting----"

House cut in, "Woo...exciting." House rolled his eyes as he stepped off the elevador and onto the fourth floor. "Must be thrilling. I'm not interested."

Jak insisted on pursuing House, "I wasn't done yet. He also hasn't had any symptoms until he called 911 twenty-five minutes ago." Jak knew that that would catch House's attention."

And it did. "Asymptomatic until now. Hmm...now that's just the slightest bit interesting. Give me that." Jak handed the file to House and he turned and left.

House limped his way, leaning his weight on the cane as usual, to the conference room. House looked at the door and noted that they had finally put the lettering on the door, it read: "Conference Room: Department of Diagnostic Medicine". When House stepped inside, the team was busy with their morning "rituals", you could call them.

Cameron was, once again, sorting House's mail, which he refused to do himself. Chase was, as usual, gnawing on a pencil as he tried to figure the crossword puzzle out. Foreman was daydreaming...again. And the newest addition to the team, Keira, was helping Cameron by sorting House's e-mail.

"Good morning," House yelled, which caught everyone's attention. "to all of my bitches." The team stared blankly at House, not exactly sure on what to say. "Now, now, don't be jealous of the newest bitch. The three of you will always be my favorite bitches. That's why...Foreman! You get to do my clinic duty today."

Foreman glared at House, "Do your own clinic duty." It seemed as though it was planned, but Cuddy appeared at the door. She poked her head in and said...

"House, I want you down in the clinic, now." Cuddy ordered.

"Can't." House held up the file. "I have a case."

Cuddy sighed, "Well, then. After you do the diffarential diagnosis, go to the clinic."

House impatiently shifted his weight. "Is anyone in the clinic on the verge of death?"

Cuddy shot him a confused glance, "N-no. I don't think so."

"Great, because my patient is. Clinic can wait."

Cuddy hissed, "Whatever. Just be in my office in fifteen minutes." Cuddy left in a hurry. House was always great at ruining a good day and raining on everyone else's parade.

The team just stared at House once more. It's not like any of this surprised them, but it was always interesting to watch. And in an odd sense, it was funny, as long as they weren't on the recieving end. House turned to the infamous white board and began to scribble the symptoms on the board: Asymptomatic until now. Sudden fainting spell, nausea, and vomiting. "Okay, diffarential diagnosis. Starting with...Keira."

"That's simple. Aplastic Anemia." Keira responded matter-of-factly.

"Now...Chase." House pointed his cane at Chase, prompting him to speak. House reached into his pocket and pulled out a pill bottle. He took one pill out and swallowed it.

"I agree with Keira." Chase responded. "All of the symptoms point to that, just one odd thing is that it happened so suddenly."

"Exactly." House said. "Keira, go take a blood sample and test it. Chase and Cameron, go do a blood culture. Foreman, go do my clinic hours."

Keira, Chase, and Cameron filed out of the door, while Foreman hung back for a second. "Ok, House." He said in an annoyed tone. "While i'm doing **_your_** clinic hours, what are you going to do?"

"I going to skip down the yellow brick road and sing while I'm on my way to see the wonderful wizard of Haven City Teaching Hospital." House sarcastically remarked. "No, wait, I'm going to see Cuddy. Scratch that. I'm on my way to see the wicked witch."

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Chase, Keira, and Cameron all walked down the hall together. Cameron turned to Keira and asked, "So, what do you think about working with House so far?"

Keira laughed a little, "It's...weird. It's gonna take me some time to get used to dealing with him."

Chase gave her a pat on the shoulder. "Trust us. We came into this job with just as much enthusiam and optimism as you at one point. You'll get used to House and his wicked ways eventually. Your doing good, though."

Keira hesitated for a minute, "Could I ask what happened to his leg?"

Cameron and Chase looked at each other. Cameron scratched the back of her neck, "I have an idea. After we do these tests we'll go to lunch and talk about it. Bring Jak and Daxter, too. Maybe it would be best if they heard too. Just so you can understand a bit better."

"Alright." Keira said with a smile. But she wasn't sure on what she was getting herself into. But part of her knew that it would be best if she left it alone. But curiosity was too much to resist.

(I wasn't going to bother with describing them taking the blood. You'll get to see more of Razor in chapter 2. You'll also get to see more Jak and Daxter in chapter 2)

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House gave a slight knock on Cuddy's door, and she waved him in. House was taken aback by what she had done to her office. It was obvious that she had done some remodeling. The room was neater and she had replaced her old desk with a bigger one that was furnished with cherry wood. She had several exotic hanging plants and mini palmetto trees scattered about the room. She got new filing cabinets and the light bulbs had been changed so the lighting wasn't so dim. Her glass doors were also cleaned and streak free.

Cuddy noticed the fact that he was staring, "Like the remodeling. I think that it gives the room a fresher feel."

House nodded slightly, "So what is it that you want, Cuddy?"

Cuddy took a deep breath and relaxed, "I need to interveine with your methods of doing things, House. So, I'm giving an intervention."

"Damn it!" House yelled. "I don't have a Vicoden addiction! So, I don't need an intervention. What gives you that idea anyway?" House pulled out his pill bottle and popped another pill. "Oh right, it's because you see me popping pills all the time."

Cuddy shook her head, "Not that kind of intervention. I just need you to do your job."

House gave her a confused look, "I am doing my job. I complete all of my cases and I save people's lives. I think I'm doing my job."

"The clinic is apart of your job, too. If you don't start showing up for clinic duty, and I mean you, not one of your team, I'll----" Cuddy stopped to think for a moment. She had to think of a good threat. "Remove you from the payroll."

"I have tenure." House retorted.

_'He's right, damn. Why can't I get him to do his job?' _Cuddy thought to herself. "House, this is all that I'm going to say, ok? I just need you to do the other half of your job. That's all that I ask. If you don't start showing up in that clinic, i'll start taking you off of your cases. Plain and simple. You have **_six years _**of clinic time to make up, better get started." Cuddy handed him a file for the clinic and she waved her hand at him to leave.

As House left her office with a smug smile, all that he could think to himself was, "Technically, I'm in the clinic right now." House laughed. He pulled an id out of his pocket, the name read: "Dr. Eric Foreman". House knew that he never wore or carried his id with him, so he chose to permanately gave it to Foreman, who was right now, posing as Dr. Gregory House.

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Down in the cafeteria, Chase, Cameron, Keira, and Daxter were getting ready to get some lunch. The special today was a turkey hoagie or a meatball sub. But they were all impatiently waiting for Jak. They took a seat at the nearest available table and relaxed for a moment. "Where is Jak?" Daxter whined. "I'm sooo hungry."

"Will you shut up, Daxter. You're not making the situation any better. Plus, Jak is getting the test results back from the lab for us." Keira lectured to Daxter.

After waiting for about ten more minutes and ten more minutes of Daxter's insistant complaining, Jak finally arrived with the test results in tow. "Sorry for making you guys wait so long." Jak apologized. "There was a lot of backup at the lab. But I did get the results."

Jak handed the results to Keira. Keira looked them over, "Hmm...low white and red count. Looks like I was right." Keira announced proudly. "It is Aplastic Anemia. But still it's so weird that it just showed up so suddenly. Aplastic doesn't do that. That's the only thing that makes me doubt the diagnosis."

"You are right. It just makes me think...are we even right?" Cameron wondered. "We should keep him under observation for a while. Just in case something changes."

"Good idea." Chase agreed. "But Keira, you were wondering about House right? I suppose we'll let you in on what happened..."

---_beep. beep.---_

Jak grabbed his pager. "Sorry, that's me. Looks like I have an emergency to attend to. I'll have to catch up with you guys later." They all said bye to Jak and Jak abruptly left. That was the one downside of being an EMT, he was always in demand and had to leave whenever duty called. And it was calling right now.

"Anyway..." Chase started.

---_ring. ring.---_

Slowly, one by one, Cameron, Chase, and Keira's phones rang. Keira flipped open her phone, "Looks like we have and emergency, too." Keira sighed. "Looks like this will have to wait. Let's go." The team left without having started the story, and without having eaten.

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Down on the third floor of HCTH, Drs. Cameron, Chase, and Keira raced to their patients room. Keira slid the door open and flung herself into the room. She looked to the nurse, "What is it?"

The nurse looked warily at Keira, "I'm sorry. Just a bit shaken is all. I just could have sworn that this patient had aplastic anemia."

While their patient, Razor, seemed to be deep in REM sleep. Keira gave the nurse a confused look. "Yeah, we're treating him for aplastic, why?"

"Look at this." The nurse had revealed the bottoms of Razor's legs, about around the ankles. Cameron, Chase, and Keira looked at each other and then decided to take a quick look. "What the---" Keira said in shock. Cameron and Chase's mouths hung open. Razor's ankles were swollen to about three times the normal size and were a pure blood red with spotting of purple.

"This isn't aplastic, is it?" Cameron asked as she took a closer look.

"Not a chance." Keira said with certainty.

Chase took a quick look at the vital moniters. "His BP is dropping rapidly. We need a shot of epi' and a new diagnosis."

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_**Well, that the end of part one of two for the first chapter of "Keira, M.D." Daxter gets to perform his first real spy job for House. Which will take him into the dirty secrets of the combat racing society. Keira is working hard with the team to save a life, while House may be getting a bit too caught up with Stacy...again. But this isn't the first time this has happened and Cuddy will reveal to the team a little not-so-well-known fact about House. It's more excitement and drama in part 2! So please review and tell me how I've done. **_

_**Need something cleared up about all of the medical terminology? Here is a quick guide to the medical terms used in this chapter. **_

**_1. Asymptomatic: to be without symptoms _**

**_2. Aplastic Anemia: A bone marrow disease that is deadly and prone to bleeding, internal and external. Symptoms include: low red cell, white cell, and platelet count and bleeding. _**

**_3. BP: acronymn for Blood Pressure. _**


	2. Poison, pt 2

_**Phew...I finally got chapter two/ part two up. My updates will be starting to come slowly because of school (which is going to start soon) and because I'm also currently working on a House, M.D. fic called "Call Me When Your Sober". Anyways...on to the fic! **_

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---- Ashelin found herself standing at the lobby's circulation desk sorting through papers about clinic patient complaints. The stack was mainly of verbal abuse complaints that were directed towards a certain Dr. Gregory House. '_Cuddy can deal with all of this_.' Ashelin thought as she gathered the multitude of complaint forms. Ashelin stopped when she saw a very different, yet very small stack, of forms from the clinic. They were actually _compliment (_these don't come from the clinic very often)forms. _'Now that's an oddity_.' She picked them up and took a quick look at them before adding them to the work load she had to present to Cuddy. They were labeled for...

"Wow, Keira is doing great." Cuddy said with a smile as Ashelin handed her the forms in her office. "Five patient compliments in one day. That beats Cameron's record of four. But still, this is impressive." Cuddy just sighed complacently. "I guess hiring her was a good idea and she has brought such a fresh aura to the diagnostic team and hospital in general."

Ashelin nodded in agreement as she took a seat across from Cuddy's desk. "True, she is doing very well. Where is House? I haven't seen him check in yet."

Cuddy looked slightly shocked as she stared at the clock hanging on the wall. "One in the afternoon is a bit late for him..." She looked down at yesterday's complaint forms. Cuddy shook her head and sarcastically said, "Wow, a new personal record for House. Twelve complaints in one day. Wonderful. A new record for the rudest doctor in the hospital. Ashelin, could you throw these in the trash for me?"

Ashelin took them and gave Cuddy a confused look, "You're not going to do anything about this?"

Cuddy laughed, "No. Trust me, at least he is working in the clinic. Better to have him be a complete ass to the patients than not to be in the clinic at all. You'll get used to it, believe me." Cuddy stood. "Well, I guess I'll wait for him in the lobby so I can force him into the clinic...yet again."

Ashelin nidded and stodd as well after Cuddy and left. Ashelin, too, had a lot of business to attend to.

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"House is an ass. A complete and total ass. How can he leave us here, when he knows that we have a dying patient that we need to save." Foreman was, once more, complaining about House. Cameron had just finished sorting House's mail, Chase was staring off into nowhere, and Keira was downing her third cup of coffee in the last fifteen minutes.

"Well, we could try to move on without House." Keira suggested. "We can do our own diffarential diagnosis while we wait for House, that way when he does get here, we'll already have an idea about what to do that way we can give our patient the treatment that he needs faster."

"Good thinking." Cameron complimented Keira.

"I still can't believe that he left us here though." Foreman had been going on and on about House for that past half an hour. "Bet you he's getting to caught up with Stacy, again. And---"

Chase was rubbing the temples of his head, "Will you shut up already. Let's just move on with the diffarential. We know that it isn't Aplastic Anemia, but there is still a small chance that it is. So, any other guesses?"

--ring--- ---ring---

"I got it." Keira said as she grabbed the phone. "Keira." She said as she answered it.

"Keira, it's House. Put me on speakerphone."

Keira hit a button and it went into speaker phone. "Where are you?" Keira asked. "Dying patient you know. Latest symptom is internal bleeding and paralysis starting at the ankles."

"Foreman, any sign of neurological problems?"

"No, House. And are you coming in today?" Foreman was rolling his eyes.

"I'll be there in five minutes, _mommy_. The internal bleeding could be caused by damage to the blood vessels. Until I get there, order an angiogram, that way we can get a clear look to see if any vessel damage has been done and keep him on the Aplastic treatment."

"But House," Keira said. "He isn't responding to the...Aplastic...treatment. He hung up. You're right, Foreman. He is such an ass."

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---- It was 1:15 when House decided to stroll into the hospital. But he didn't come in alone, Stacy was closely walking by his side. She gave him a hug, that lasted a bit longer than expected, before she departed. Cuddy, who had been waiting for House like a cat stalking it's prey, jumped in front of him and stopped him in his tracks. She grabbed his arm and began to drag him forcibly to the clinic.

Cuddy glared at him, "You are **_extremely_** late. What's the excuse this time?" Cuddy was still dragging him through the clinic doors.

"No excuse." House said peachily. "Stacy and I were---"

"Don't want to know." She stopped him from completing his statement, knowing where this would go. Cuddy looked at the clinic nurse, "1:20, Dr. House checks in. Write that down please. And House, exam room one, **_now_**."

House wasn't going to let this go on without a fight. House limped over to the front of the packed clinic waiting room and he called for all of the patients attention, "Good afternoon! I'm Dr. Gregory House. I'm one of three clinic doctors on duty today. I'm also the only one being held here against their will, isn't that right Dr. Cuddy?"

Cuddy just stared at House. She shook her head as she prepared a file for him.

House still stood in front of all the patients. He reached into his pocket and puled out his Vicoden pills and he took one. The clinic patients seemed to just stare at what he was doing. House cleared his throat. "Anyone wondering what this is?" He gestured to the pill bottle. "This is highly addictive Vicoden. You'll see me popping these yummy pills every now and then. I can still treat you, but I may be too stoned to tell." The patients looked warily at each other. "So, who would like to be my first victim...er...patient?" Not a soul stood. "Well, if you change your mind, I'll be in exam room one."

Cuddy just stood with her hands on her hips as she watched him limp off to exam room one. "Very funny, House." Cuddy turned to the patients. "Don't listen to him, he's an idiot. Euridice Thomas? Exam room one."

The woman slowly stood and in a soft voice said, "Could I wait for a different doctor?"

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Keira, Chase, Cameron, and Foreman were in the isolation room with their patient. They had to wear anti-bacterial gloves and clothing before entering. Because of Razer's low blood cell count he had to be put in a "clean room" or isolation room to prevent further infections. Keira was giving Razer the information on his current condition, "We also need to do an angioplasty. That will allow us to go inside of the blood vessels and repair as much damage as possible. We need your consent for the procedure."

Razer wasn't the star combat racer anymore. Once strong, powerful and fearless was now pale as a ghost and extremely weak. "Will this fix the problem?"

Chase spoke up this time. "Not really. Right now, whatever this disease is, is killing you. But it will buy us more time to diagnose you."

"How dangerous is this?" For once, Razer sounded worried. And maybe, just maybe, a little bit scared.

Cameron lowered her eyes to the ground. "I'm sorry. But because of your severe internal bleeding, the procedure is very dangerous. There is a very slight chance that you will die on the table, but it is still highly unlikely. Espicially with the doctors that will be handeling the procedure. They are experts and they know what to do." Cameron nodded towards Keira and Chase. They were the only two of House's team that were qualified to assist and perform certain surgeries and procedures.

Razer still looked as if he was going to decline the angioplasty, but Keira quick wittedly came up with a last resort to persuade him. "Look, there is a good chance that you wil die, with or without the angioplasty. We are just trying to buy ourselves more time to save your life and if you choose not to do it, we will run out of time to save you. I'm a hematologist, you can trust me, I specialize in these procedures. Just give us this chance to do our job, and save your life."

Razer let out a heavy sigh as he listened to the end of Keira's speech. "Fine."

Keira nodded and smiled, "We'll get a nurse to prep you, while we get an OR."

The team filed out of the room and Foreman ran up to Keira's side. "I can't believe it. House must be getting to you."

Keira looked confused. "What do you mean?"

Foreman chuckled slightly, "That was a speech that only House would give. If only you said it with a bit more heartlessness, it would have been perfect."

"Very funny."

---_ring_--- ---_ring_---

Keira looked at her phone while the rest of the team stood around her as she answered it. "House, where are you? We are prepping our patient for the angioplasty now."

"I've been kidnapped by the wicked witch of the hospital and I'm being forced to work in the clinic." There was a tinge of humor in his voice.

Keira sighed and rolled her eyes, "We'll sent you a consult." Keira closed her phone and looked at the rest of the team. "So, who's turn is it to save House from Cuddy?"

Cameron raised her hand, "I'll go. Continue the plans for the angioplasty while go rescue House."

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--- Daxter was excited about his first out-of-city mission. He was called by House, who told him to investigate the combat racing scene and to, more importantly, get a pair of Razer's cigarettes from his usual spot the "Ready to Race Inn".

Daxter had taken a long trip to the very small, yet modest city called Kras City (remember, this story takes place before it is a huge city). He had wandered the nice clean city and found the Inn without much trouble. Daxter entered the Inn and looked around. It had clean wood floors and paneling with a beautiful antique fireplace in the left wall. And the lobby was filled with comfortable looking, beige cushioned chairs. Daxter looked around at the very nice Inn And finally spotted the little market stand on the far corner of the room. Daxter hopped up on the counter and spoke to the clerk, "Hey, there umm...pal. I need to buy some cigarettes for my...um...friend, Razer. "

The old man gave Daxter a twisted look when he mentioned Razer's name. He gave Daxter a strange smile, "You must be his pet or something. Damn ugly thing if I must say so." Daxter made a face at this comment, but tried to keep his cool. "I'll get you Razer's _special _blend." The clerk disappeared into the back of the store. Out of curisoity, Daxter followed. He peeked into the back and saw that the clerk had a gas mask on and was spraying something on the cigarettes. Daxter gasped at the scene and fled back to the counter before the clerk could spot him.

The clerk came back to the counter and handed Daxter the cigarettes. "Here you go. Now have a nice day."

Daxter took them and exited the Inn. He thought he'd give House a call and let him know what he found instead of waiting until he got back to Haven City. He took out his sleek, thin, and very small cell that had the words "Orange Lightning" written on the front. He used the speed dial to call House.

On the other end, he answered, "House."

Daxter said, "Found the cigarettes. I snuck into the back and saw the clerk do something to them."

House took a sudden interest in the situation, "What did you see?"

"He was spraying some gas or something on them."

"Poisen. Good work." House hung up.

Daxter just stood there, "Why does everyone hang up on or ignore me?" Daxter looked down at the ground. "Well, I guess I'll head back to Haven City." Daxter looked around and saw that no one was there. "I really have to stop talking to myself."

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--- House slammed the Operating Room door open. The lights were dimmed all around except for on the patient that lay unconscious on the table, which happened to be Razer. There were several moniters and tables filled with surgical equipment and a small team that seemed ready to go with surgical masks and aprons on. "Stop the Angio!" House yelled.

Keira took her mask off. Since she was a hematologist, she was leading the procedure. she tried to stay calm, "House, I haven't even started it yet. And you aren't sterile, you need to get out."

House defiently stood there, "If you do the angioplasty, he'll die."

"Where did you come up with this?" Keira said in disbelief.

"He's been poisened. If you do the angoi, it'll counteract the poisen and send it on a wild rampage through his body. Destroying the blood vessels and causing him to bleed to death. His organ will shut down, it'll destroy his brain...you get the point, right?"

Keira rubbed her forehead, "You have no proof. Without the angio he has two hours left to live."

"With it he has two minutes!" House argued back.

Keira sighed heavily. She turned to the nurses behind her, "Cancel the angioplasty." she turned back around to House. "You'd better be right, or you just killed our patient."

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--- "So...are we just going to wait for our patient to die?" Cameron asked as the rest of the team watched House bounce a ball back and forth against the wall.

"No, we are waiting for test results." House replied.

"What test results?" Chase asked.

"Yeah, we stopped the angio and we haven't done any tests since." Keira added.

"You are waiting for me." Daxter said with a heroic stride as he entered the conference room. "I tested those cigarettes they tested positive for---" Daxter tried to sound the word out. "Are-scene-ic."

Keira shook her head and laughed, "That's arsenic, Daxter."

"Exactly." House said. "It's known to mask itself as Aplastic Anemia and that's why so many die from it. Congrats team."

Foreman gave House a look, "You're telling us congradulations? Are you feeling ok?"

House thought about it, "No. I think I took too much Vicoden today. I must be high. But if it makes you feel any better instead of congradulations how's you all suck and are horrible doctors."

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--- With the diagnosis complete and their patient starting to get better, it was finally time to go home. For Keira, this was one hell of a test. She had really proved herself and now she truly felt as if she was ready to take on any patient and any case. But it was 10:15 and the only thing currently on Keira's mind was sleep. After all, she still had to go in tomorrow at seven in the morning.

Chase ran up to Keira as she approached her zoomer. He grabbed her shoulder and stopped her, "Hey Keira."

"Yeah, what's up, Chase?"

"I was just wondering...would you be interested in going out to dinner with me at some point?" Chase asked, obviously a bit nervous.

Keira smiled a tired smile, "Sure, if we are not too busy saving a life, tomorrow would be fine."

"Ok, great." Chase happily replied. "See you tomorrow."

Keira hopped on her zoomer, "Bye." As she sped off, not her nor anyone else had a grip on what would happen tomorrow.

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--- It was late and all Jak wanted to do was go home. He was sitting in the scenic courtyard of Haven City Teaching Hospital at night. He watched the lightning bugs glow as they floated across the field. They were nice and calming to watch as Jak closed his eyes for just one second. He was seated at a table and had just finished downing his fifth double shot of espresso.

Yeah, another double shot of espresso. It wasn't easy being a paramedic. Espicially when you had to spring into action at any given moment to run off and save a life. So coffee was needed to propel himself through the day and today wasn't an easy day and it wasn't going to get easier. He had to go again in another fifteen minutes. It was too late for this.

Today, Jak and his paramedic team found themselves taking several trips to a local high school that had about 1,300 students. Many students were just passing out for no reason at all. They were nausious at first, then they just collapsed. Now, because so many have fallen ill through the day, that paramedic teams had to transport the entire school to HCTH in just less that fifteen minutes. And this only meant one thing...it was an epidemic.

It was late and Cuddy found Jak sitting outside. She speed walked over to him and sat down next to him. "Thanks for the heads up, Jak. I've alerted as many doctors as I could to come in tonight and stay until necessary. I really do appreciate you staying to help us out with this."

Jak yawned, "It's ok. I really don't mind." Jak gave Cuddy a worried look, "I just hope our hospital is ready for an epidemic."

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_**Keira, M.D. medical guide **_

**_1. aplastic anemia: potentially deadly bone marrow disease _**

**_2. Angiogram: x-ray of blood vessels _**

**_3. angioplasty: any variation of surgical techniques for repairing blood vessels. _**

**_4. arsenic poisening: exposure to arsenic which can end in death. Symptoms include: nausea, vomiting, abnormal heart rythem, anemia, blood vessel damage, and the pins and needles. _**

_**Coming up in Chapter 3: **_

_**It's panic at Haven City Teaching Hospital as an epidemic takes hold of the hospital. Cuddy requests the help of all of the doctors, including House's team. But House has taken a kee interest in one person who is showing similiar, yet slightly different symptoms, from the other epidemic patients. Even Ashelin and Stacy are working together... for the moment. But even though the virus isn't contagious through human contact, someone is infecting the doctors, and House thinks it may be his patient. Special guest patient: Allie, from the fanfic "Me Against the World" written by COme as yOu are. **_

_**NOTE: If you would like to see your OC star as one of House patients in a chapter let me know by any means necessary. I'd be glad to have them in the story. All creation rights will be given to the creators at the beginning of each chapter. Anyhow, thanks for reading and please R and R! **_


	3. Epidemic

_**Thanks to all of my faithful reviewers as usual! I couldn't make it without you. It's lots of drama for this chapter, not just patient drama either. Couples and bonds are being formed, rumors going around, and Stacy and Ashelin are at it...again. And guest starring as a patient in this chapter is Allie, from the fanfic "Me Against the World" by COme as yOu are. **_

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---- It was complete disaster and panic at Haven City Teaching Hospital. The once quiet lobby was packed with hundreds and hundreds of people. The doctors were sure that whatever these people had wasn't contagous through human contact, but most wore surgical masks just in case. No one was allowed in, except for doctors, or out of the hospital. Lines of people wrapped around the lobby and extended into the halls and fanned out into rooms. Doctors ran about frantically admitting and discharging people. And for one time in the hospital's history every department (except ICU and ER) were shut down.

That closure included the Department of Diagnositcs as well. Keira, Chase, Foreman, and Cameron had come into HCTH at 3:00 am at the request of Dr. Lisa Cuddy. Each of them were doubled up with a partner and they had their own line of patients that they had to examine and admit or sent away. Keira and Chase were paired, Cameron and Foreman were also paired, even Ashelin and Stacy were working together. But it was noticable that their patience with each other was wearing thin...

Stacy put her hands on her hips and turned angrily to Ashelin, "You have got to be kidding me! You are still on the fact that Greg and I are back together! This is NONE of _your_ business!"

It was on now. The two of them ignored their patient that was supposed to be getting an examination and turned to each other, while getting up in each other's faces, bracing for another fight. "It is _my_ business!" Ashelin yelled back, emphasing the "my". "When it affects the way a doctor works, it becomes _my_ business! I'm trying to assist in running a hospital and _you_ keep screwing that up!" Ashelin threw her hands up in the air. "Why don't you let House have a relationship with a more responcible person like Cameron, Keira, or Cuddy!"

Stacy clenched her fists, "How dare you! I love Greg and I don't see why I have to deal with you yelling at me like you're my mother!"

Ashelin tried to relax, "Yeah, but does he love you back? Or is he just using you as a crutch? He has one crutch: his Vicoden addiction and now he has the second crutch to complete the set: you."

Stacy wiped her eyes, "That's not true. He wouldn't do that to me..."

Ashelin liked where this mental warfare was going, "You did that to him, so why shouldn't he do that to you? After the surgery on his leg, making the medical choices for him when he was put in a coma when the pain was too much to handle, and leaving him during his rehab. You killed him in all honesty, why should he forgive you? How do you know that he isn't back together with you just to get even?" Ashelin had to admit to herself that she was bring up some very good points that she hadn't considered before.

Cuddy ran over to them and glared at them, "Will the two of you focus on the patients? I don't know what all the yelling and conversating is about, but it needs to stop. We have more patients arriving from Haven City High School and we need as much focus and cooperation as possible." Cuddy just sighed. "Sometimes I feel like a teacher yelling at her students."

---- It didn't seem as if anyone was completely focused on the patients. Some were finding it hard enough to keep their eyes open and others downed mass amounts of coffee and espresso. But most doctors found it easier to stay awake by talking to their partner. Drama and rumors through the hospital were spreading like wildfire, but at least it was keeping everyone awake. Cameron took a glance at Keira and Chase across the room. She turned to Foreman.

"Hey, do you think that Keira and Chase make a good couple?"

Foreman took a look over as well, "They look good together. I mean, come on, look at how they smile at each other. They'll be the hospital's hottest couple and the hot spot for gossip and rumors. Espicially for the nurses, they'll get a kick out of it. They'll be giggling like high school girls over this."

Cameron looked down at the ground as if she was sad, "I heard that Chase asked Keira out to dinner."

"Huh, really." Foreman didn't seem surprised, but their patient did.

Their patient replied, "Yeah. They look good together. But you, Dr. Cameron, would look better with Dr. Chase." Their patient, who was a man mind you, eyed Jak, who was also giving a quick examination to another patient. "Or, Dr. Cameron, you'd look good with him." He pointed at Jak. "Or maybe I'd look good with him..."

Foreman and Cameron looked at each other and made the "eww gross" face and they turned to their patient, "This is unnecessary and I don't think Jak goes that way. And is this any of your business?"

---- Keira and Chase were the fastest moving line. They were sending off and admitting patients like wildfire. They were both tired and just wanted to get some sleep. Chase looked at Keira, "I guess dinner will have to wait, right?"

Keira smiled, "Yeah, I guess so. I spend more time at this hospital than at home. Maybe I should consider putting a tent in the lobby and just staying here."

Chase laughed. "Nice." He handed a discharge slip to a patient. "I just want to ask you, who do you think is better for House: Stacy or Cuddy?"

Keira took this into consideration, "I'd have to say Cuddy. I mean, if Stacy screwed him over once, why let it happen again?"

"Maybe he just wants revenge on her. After all, it was her judgement call that caused House's leg to be like that about six years ago. After the pain was too much to handle, he was induced into a coma. At that time, Stacy could call all of his medical decisions and she chose the treatment that landed him like this even though she didn't intend it to." Chase had given Keira a quick synopsis on why House was the way he was and it was all Stacy's fault.

Keira was curious now and their line of patients was beginning to slow down. "I think that House doesn't like the way that people look at him. They see the cane, and in all truthfulness, most people don't want a sick doctor. He doesn't like being looked down upon and even though he makes those comments that are intended to be funny about his leg and situation, he really hates it. He'd never admit it though because it makes him look weak and vulnerable and he doesn't want to seem that way. He just wants to get even with the world and although he seems cruel, that's the only way that he can be kind."

"Wow, you seem to have a good feel for what people are like." Chase seemed really impressed. "What can you say about Cameron? Or Foreman?"

"Cameron is a good person in her heart and she really does care, but I think that in some way she is hurt and that's why she is overly kind because she fears seeing people that are unhappy and doesn't want it to be her fault. Foreman has to have a bad background, but he feels that he still hasn't made up for the things he's done and he doesn't feel as if he's good enough." Keira stopped for a moment and looked up from her patient to face Chase. "And you, Chase, you too are damaged in some way. You admire House and wish that you sometimes could be more like him, which is completely uncaring. You fear becoming too attached to someone and you try to avoid that, but you are trying for one time to connect with someone and that would be me."

Cuddy walked past them, "Less talk. More patients."

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---- It was nothing but drama for the doctors and they still had hundreds of patients to contend with. More buses with people kept arriving. The epidemic had started at a local High School, students had started collapsing and passing out after feeling nausious. After several trips to the school by Jak's paramedic team, it was determined that it was an epidemic because kids kept falling ill. So, all of them were bused to the nearest hospital which happened to be Haven City Teaching Hospital. Cuddy was arrainging for some of them to be moved to a neighboring hospital across the city, but it would have to do because it was becoming overwhelming.

Cuddy told House the day before to arrive at the hospital at least before noon. So he did, just at 11:59 am. After trying to bypass the whole epidemic scene, Cuddy stopped him and yelled at him for five minutes before forcing him to treat patients, which he was still trying to be resistant to. "House," Cuddy said with her temper finally simmering down. "Why don't you work with me? I've buddied everyone up so we might as well work together."

"Great!" House exclaimed with a sarcastic enthusiam. "We can be best buddies! We''ll go together like pickles and ice cream!"

Cuddy gave House a confused look, "Pickles and ice cream? But those don't go together."

"Exactly." When Cuddy saw the point that House was trying to make, it hurt her actually. She felt as if she'd been gunned down in the line of battle. Cuddy had feelings for House and hearing that hurt just as much as pouring salt on an open wound. House saw the face that Cuddy made and he saw the tears that she was trying to fight back and hide.

She didn't meet his gaze. "Fine. I'll go where I'm needed." She turned around and walked away, but House could have sworn he saw a tear fall from her cheek. It didn't make sense to House at first, but now it make perfect sense. She was in love with him.

House looked around the room and spotted one person out of the crowd of patients. She was about as light in skin tone as Keira and had hair with blood red roots that faded to a dark brown and her long hair was put into a ponytail. She was wearing guys brown shorts and a green tunic top. Oddly, she looked sicker than most of the epidemic patients. House grabbed Jak as he was passing by, "Who is she?"

"Her? A pain in the ass, but if you must know that is Allie." Jak said. "She was the first person that we retreived from the school grounds. She doesn't attend there, she was just hanging around. Said that she felt nauseous, had a sudden fever spike, and then passed out."

"Are those the same symptoms as the other idiots here?" House seemed to be taking a keen interest in her case.

"Almost. But the fever is different. No one else here presents a fever. But good luck taking her on as a case because the only case that she is, is a mental one."

House pulled out a piece of paper and scribbled something down on it, "Do me a favor and do exactly as this card says."

Jak looked it over, "Ok." Jak dashed off.

House knew that he needed to get a good look at this Allie girl, so he grabbed a pair of latex gloves and his stethoscope and went over to her. She was lounging in a chair looking very annoyed and pissed off. She looked up at House, "What the hell do you want?" She noted the stethoscope that hung around his neck. "Oh great, another doctor. Look, I'm fine and there is nothing wrong with me, can I leave now?"

House stared planitively, "No." He stuck a thermomiter in her mouth and took the stethoscope and began to check her breathing. "You're wheezing. And you have a fever of 102.6. I'll have to admit you. Room 423, fourth floor."

She stared defiantly at House, "I'm not going, you can't make me go. So there."

House took a tighter grip on his cane, "You're right." House turned around to leave but in an instant, _crack_, a certain cane shaped object came flying at Allie's head and it knocked her unconcious to the ground. "Clean-up on aisle 3!" House yelled and a paramedic ran over to House.

"What happened?" The paramedic asked franticly.

"She fainted." House simply said. "I think we'll have to admit her. Room 423 on the fourth floor."

"Got it." The paramedic said as he scooped her up and ran to the elevater.

House knew that it was time to assemble the ducklings. He looked around to see that they were scattered about the lobby so it would be rather hard to track them down. House grabbed his cane and swiftly limped over to the lobby's circulation desk. House snatched the intercom and looked around. Cuddy, Ashelin, and Stacy seemed intently focused on a patient. Knowing that he wouldn't get in trouble, at least not yet, he made an announcement into the intercom, "Drs. Keira, Cameron, Chase, and Foreman take your asses and move them up to Diagnostics." People turned around and stared. House's team just glared at him. "Well, I'd hurry. Dying people, you know."

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(in the Diagnostic conference room--- 4th floor, Witherspoon wing)

House snatched up a marker and stood at the front of the white board. He bagan to scribble symptoms on the board. "Patient: a girl named Allie. She was hanging aroung the high school where this all started. Symptoms: nausea, sudden fever spike, and then she fainted."

"Wait a second." Keira said in disbelief. "You called us up here, took us away from where we are needed most, just to diagnose another epidemic patient? When Cuddy finds us, she's going to kill us."

"She's not just any epidemic patient." House stated matter-of-factly. "No one else presents a fever. That is an anomaly and anomalies bug me."

"It probally just a cold." Chase said exasperatedly.

"This is pointless." Foreman mumbled

"It's not pointless." House said. "If it's pointless then tell me is trying to find a cure for cancer patients _pointless_ because they're going to die anyway? Is trying to save an elder's life _pointless _because they're going to die soon from old age? Just humor me for a second."

"Fine." Chase said as he eased back into his chair. "We'll humor you."

"Alright." House said loudly. "Diffarential people, let's go. What could cause nausea, fever, and fainting: all in one shot?"

"Ventricular tachycardia could have caused the nausea and fainting." Cameron suggested.

"And a cold could have caused the fever." Foreman added to that.

Keira shook her head, "Can't be ventricular tachycardia. She also would have complained of chest discomfort, rapid heart beat, and trouble breathing. Could be early stages of west nile virus."

"No." Chase said. "Even the earliest stages of west nile don't include that few of symptoms. I'd say...typhoid fever."

"Chase, give her the intravenious treatment for typhoid fever. Keira, I need a blood test. Foreman, you get the MRI, and Cameron can...hmm...I have to find someting for you to do that will make you miserable...run a second blood test. Keira look for typhoid fever and Cameron look for the causes of it."

Just as the team was getting up to perform their assigned duties the phone in the center of the table rang. Keira hit the speaker phone button. She answered the call, "Diagnostics."

It was a nurse, "We have an emergency in room 423. Assistance is needed immediately."

"Be right there." Keira said.

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(room 423)

"Calm down, Allie. Relax, you're in a hospital, you're safe." Chase and Foreman stood about ten feet away from her. Keira and Cameron were behind them, prepping the treatment and a shot of Ativan, just in case she lost it, which she was about to do.

"Stay away..." Allie warned. One thing was true and that was that Allie hated needles, let alone hospitals in general. Allie grabbed for the IV in her arm and began to pull at it.

"Don't do that!" Foreman yelled. "You'll hurt yourself. And the last thing you want is stitches and an angioplasty because you tore your blood vessel."

"I...hate...needles..." Allie braced herself and ripped her IV out of her arm. "AHHHH!" She yelled, realizing that it hurt a lot more than it should have. Blood began to pour out of her arm at an alarmingly fast rate. Chase tried to aproach her, but she picked up the pole and the IV attachment and began to swing it at them. "I told you not to come near me!"

"She's gone postal." Foreman said loudly. "Great, psychosis, just what we need."

"We'll need a shot of Adivan, stat." Chase ordered.

"I've got it!" Keira responded.

Foreman turned to Chase and whispered, "The minute she is distracted we'll both grab her and take her down, got it?"

"Right." Chase quietly responded. He noted that Allie was trying to drive them back because here she came swinging the pole with the IV at them. She swung it at Chase, but he evasively dodged it. "Allie, relax. You're going to hurt someone."

_CRASH _was the sound of shattering glass as she destroyed one of the glass doors by sending the IV flying. But it wasn't just glass that went falling. Allie took a strong swipe and took Cameron with the IV. Cameron went crashing through the glass with the entire IV and she fell to the floor unconscious. She was covered with blood. "CAMERON!" Keira cried as a large chunk of flying glass cut through Keira's side. Chase and Foreman were also hit with minor shards of glass.

"NOW!" Foreman yelled. Chase and Foreman both ran up to Allie and lifted her off the ground. She struggled and fought, but they managed to wrestle her down to the bed. They restrained her and held her down. "We need that Adivan!" Keira, even though she was hurt, ran up to Allie and stabbed her in the neck with the needle. Allie was screaming bloddy murder and many obscene things at the doctors when the drug quickly took effect and sent her into a sedated state.

"We need help in here!" Chase yelled as loud as he could. Paramedics ran into the room. "Our doctor, Cameron, is probally the most badly hurt. Keira has glass in her side, and our patient has a cut wrist from ripping the IV out. We need to get these three to the ER and fast."

The paramedics nodded, "We'll get three stretchers and rush them downstairs."

Keira held her side tightly, trying to stop the constant stream of blood, "We need an OR too for the angioplasty and the stitches we're going to need. Looks like House was right...this is no ordinary epidemic patient."

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House was sitting on a ledge on the rooftop. He had no clue what had happened just yet, but he chose to just stare out into the distance. He heard a door open behind him and the gentle sound of high heels walking over to him. A thin hand rested on his shoulder, "House, you know you should be downstairs dealing with the epidemic." House just nodded. Cuddy continued, "And thanks for the flowers you left on my desk. I love roses and I do accept your apoligy."

"Don't expect that often." House said with the usual humor in his voice. "I'm not good with the whole 'i'm sorry' thing." Their faces were very close now, so close that they could feel each other's breathing. In a purely romantic scene, it seemed as if they were about to kiss on the rooftop with the orange blazing sun setting in the background.

"_Great...I'm letting myself get swept away with the moment. Stacy or Cuddy...Stacy or Cuddy... keep getting even with Stacy or make Cuddy happy...hmm..." _These were the thoughts of House as their lips came even closer to touching.

"_Wow...House is capable of romance? This is weird, yet just what I wanted." _Cuddy doesn't think half as much as House in intimate moments.

--_ring--- ---ring--- _

It was House's phone. "_Damn it!"_ Cuddy thought. _"And so close, too." _

House pulled the cell phone out of his pocket, "This is House and this better be important."

It was Chase, "Well, our patient had a psychotic break that has Keira and Cameron in the ER."

"Be there in a minute." House closed his phone he grabbed his cane and gave a quick, gentle kiss on the lips to Cuddy, which surprised her. But before she could respond in any way, House was gone.

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_**Keira, M.D. medical terminology guide: **_

**_1. Ventricular Tachycardia: Causes rapid heart beat. Symptoms include shortness of breath, fainting, chest discomfort, and light headedness. _**

**_2. West Nile Virus: potentially deadly virus caused by insect bites _**

**_3. Typhoid Fever: very rare yet life threatening illness caused by the bacteria Salmonella Typhi. Can be found and transmitted by in undercooked foods, poor hygene habits, and shedding of virus onto prepared food espicially fast food. _**

**_4. MRI: Magnetic Renosance Imaging _**

**_5. Adivan: a drug used to sedate, espicially mentally disturbed patients. _**

**_6. psychosis: a state when someone has a mental break. They lose control of themselves. Also known as a psychotic break. _**

_**In the next chapter: **_

_**Has romance blossemed between House and Cuddy? And will Stacy find out about their secret tryst? And more drama and rumors in the hospital are going around. For some odd reason, doctors are falling ill with similar symptoms to Allie. And as for Allie's case, she's one tough patient, but her odd listing of symptoms is sending the team through a diagnostic spiral. What is wrong with her? and can they save Allie before it is too late? **_

_**Thanks for reading and be sure to check out more Allie action in the fanfic "Me Against the World" by COme as yOu are. Until then, please R and R!**_


	4. Secrets

**_Wow, it's been a while since I've updated, but I'm back! School and working on another fanfic seemed to have absorbed most of my time. And a special thanks to COme as yOu for letting me use Allie in this fic and helping me out with this! But now it's back to the medically heart stopping drama. In a quick summary, we'll be bringing you Allie's strange strain of disease, checking in on the dating scene, and discovering a conspiracy about Haven City Teaching Hospital that will shock you. This is no ordinary hospital, and you'll see why. Never judge a book by its cover. _**

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"Doctor, is everything going to be alright? I mean, my son, he's been admitted and I'm worried and I don't know what to do, and---"

The patient talking and Keira didn't exactly catch every word. She was talking _way too fast. _Keira gently rubbed her fingers across the stitches on her right side. Her mind wandered and danced around and waited until the frantic mother stopped talking so that she could get a word in edgewise. "Look, ma'am, your son is in excellent care. We are all professionals and have extensive training in epidemic, pandemic, and disaster relief." Ok, so the last part was a lie, but whatever got the woman to stop talking would be fine with her. "You can wait in the lobby for your son, other than that you're fine."

Keira took off her examination gloves. Ten hours had gone by since the patients of this dangerous epidemic arrived, and they had finally admitted or released each person in the entire area. Chase had stitched up Keira after the little psychotic incident. Surprisingly, it only took fifteen minutes to complete, so Keira dove back into work afterward. Now, everyone could get back to focusing on their primary patient, Allie. Well, everyone except for Cameron, who was hurt pretty badly.

A hand grabbed her shoulder and Keira jumped back startled. She breathed a sigh of relief, it was only Chase. "Hey Chase, how is Cameron?"

With a face absent of a smile, he replied, "She's awake now. We're giving her medication for what ever pain she may feel. Lot's of band-aids and stitches, too. Other than that, she's a mess. How about you?"

"Fine, but I'm much more concerned for Cameron. She took a really big hit."

Chase nodded in agreement, "Let's go check up on her, if you want. I mean, she's only down the hall."

Keira smiled, "Okay."

Chase and Keira walked down the hall in awkward silence. A few nurses giggled as they walked by, patients frantically ran the halls, and doctors bore annoyed faces as they passed by. It has been a long day for everyone and patience was dangling by a string or just plain nonexistent. Keira broke the silence, "So, um, about that dinner thing we were supposed to do…" She let her voice trail off so Chase could pick up.

"We could do that tomorrow night, if you'd like."

Keira smiled and laughed a little bit, "That is if they ever let us leave the hospital. In that case we may just have to eat in the cafeteria downstairs." --- WHACK -- Keira felt something hit the back of her knees that caused her to collapse to the floor on her back. In a short moment afterward… ---WHACK -- Chase fell to the floor on top of Keira, partly crushing her. And then a very familiar voice was heard…

"Chase, you naughty boy, get off of Keira. The hallway is no place to _that._" It was House alright. Only he would hint at something obscene like that and go through all of that just to set the situation up.

"That was completely uncalled for!" Keira loudly protested. "Is hitting people amusing to you?"

House's sarcasm drive had kicked in, "Oh, of course not. Tormenting you mentally is way more fun. See those doctors over there that just happened to see Chase on you? You'll be the butt of many jokes for weeks to come. Why just plan something that gives you a good kick for a moment, when the fun can last for weeks. Come on, we have to go." After his long speech, House began to prod Chase and Keira down the hall.

"Go where?" Chase batted House's cane away.

"We are going to join the black parade and go all emo on this hospital's ass." House said with a very serious face.

"Okay…. Now be for real House. Where are we going?" Keira shook her head.

"To do a differential on a sick person. Where else do you find us lurking? Come on to the bat cave!" House must have lost his mind, being in a hospital for that long can do that to you.

"But we wanted to go see how Cameron was doing…" Keira protested.

"Great idea!" House said loudly as if struck by a revelation. "We'll do the differential in Cameron's room. I'm sure she won't mind. Keira, go fetch the 'dark one' and Chase, go retrieve the white board."

Chase sighed agitatedly, "They won't let anyone on the elevators because of the epidemic. How do you expect me to get the white board from the forth floor to the first?"

"Take the stairs." And House just walked away.

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Jak casually strolled the halls of Haven City Teaching Hospital. It really was a nice building and place to work. The building was in pristine condition. The floors were sparkling clean, the walls neatly yet tastefully decorated, and even the office spaces were clean. But it was also nice to have a break. There was so much pressure and demand on being a paramedic. And with a recent, but small, increase in the flow of metal heads into the city in general, there were plenty of bite wound victims to save. Jak turned around to the sound of someone running in heels. He shook himself from his thoughts to see Dr. Cuddy and Ashelin coming towards him. He stopped so they could catch up. "Something you need Dr. Cuddy?"

Cuddy took a deep breath, "You are no easy person to catch up to. Anyway, and yes, I do need your help. I can't find Daxter and I need him for an extremely important task."

"Haven't seen him. Probably napping somewhere."

Ashelin approached Jak and handed him a closed envelope. "And I need you to give this to Torn. It's very important. And if you even try to open it you'll never open anything again."

Jak seemed to be taken aback by the comment and Cuddy replied, "Sorry Jak, but it's confidential."

"Wait a second, does that mean that this hospital is aligned with the Underground!" Jak said this rather loudly and it prompted a 'shh!' from Cuddy and Ashelin.

Cuddy looked around, seeing no one in earshot she began to explain, "Actually, yes, but NO ONE can know that. This must remain a secret. Everyone believes that this hospital is unbiased; let them keep believing that although it isn't true."

Ashelin nodded in agreement, "The Underground has saved this hospital's skin many times, it's only fair that we continue to help them by supplying them with the best medical care we can, with or without insurance."

"But-" Cuddy said. "If the Baron were to get word of that, he'd destroy this hospital and kill everyone in it. I've got too many years of medical training behind me to lose this hospital and-" **_CRASH _**

Jak, Ashelin, and Cuddy were standing in a very dead hallway. Literally, because the morgue was in front of them and no one wanted to be there. But it sounded like someone was ransacking the morgue. **_CRASH, CRASH _**it was heard several more times. Jak cautiously approached the double doors to the morgue and opened one of them.

What they saw was horrid. Cuddy gasped, "Oh my god!"

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"Ok, we need a differential for a sick psycho, literally." House began to scribble on the white board that Chase had to carry down four flights of stairs to Cameron's room. And Cameron's room was very nice. It had floral pictures and a very nice scent of daffodils. The room had a huge wall of windows that were outside of the scenic garden, beige walls, and the sheets were fresh and clean. The room was also all to herself. It was one of those rooms that was reserved only for special patients and that required an extra insurance payment. Except in Cameron's case, since she was a doctor, out of all the patients, she was treated best.

"House, what are you doing?" Cameron's eyes fluttered open.

"It has to be some sort of acute infectious disease." Foreman said, ignoring the fact that Cameron was awake now.

"Well, duh Foreman. We are the department of Diagnostic medicine. We always deal with infectious disease. What planet are you on today?" House seemed slightly annoyed with the comment.

"This is ridiculous, House!" Cameron was quite mad. "You have an office and you went through all of the trouble just to do a differential in **_my_** room. Will you just get out!"

Finally acknowledging Cameron, House turned to her, "This isn't **_your_** room. Technically, it's Cuddy's room. She runs the hospital."

'_It takes two to tango.' _Cameron thought. "And Cuddy said that **_I_** could use this room, but the real question is did she say that **_you_** could use it?"

"Touché." House said, rather impressed by Cameron's retort. '_I wonder if she realizes that she is beginning to sound like me more and more each day. Each day she becomes more and more sarcastic. I'd say I'm raising them well.' _

"Maybe," Chase said. "It's just a normal disease that is blown way out of proportion."

House, Foreman, and Chase were debating and taking this into consideration, while Keira was busily searching medical archives on her laptop. "I've got a better explanation for you. How about a form of the plague?"

"The plague? That makes no sense what so ever." Foreman said.

"Actually," House said. "It makes a lot of sense. If it is a form of the plague, we'll need an MRI to scan her brain to be sure that none of this is affecting her brain. If particles of it have escaped into the blood stream to her brain, she'll be dead in a few hours."

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The room was rather small, and a pale white, with a small floral arraignment that rested in the corner. It was a far cry from Cameron's luxurious room. Allie was sitting up in her bed. She did actually apologize to the team for going postal before, but… she wasn't too happy about the news that they brought to her. House sighed, "And why won't you do an MRI?"

"Two words, doc." Their very angry patient Allie replied. "Claustro-F-phobia."

"Alright then," House replied back. "Keira, get a scalpel. Chase, get an OR. Foreman, get something for anesthesia." The team appeared to quickly buzz about the room collecting the objects they needed.

Chase looked to House, "OR's may be booked. We might need to just use this room."

Allie's face turned the slightest bit pale, "Wha- wha- what are you doing?"

House rubbed his temples in frustration, "Well, if we can't do an MRI, then we'll just have to cut you open and see what's going on in there. It's called an exploratory surgery."

Allie jumped up, "I have another two words for you, hell no. There is no way that you're doing some crazy 'exploratory surgery'. Not on my time at least. So, just back up or I'll go all postal on your ass again." Allie lifted her hands slightly and her gown sleeves fell to her shoulders, and there it was."

Keira spotted it and so did everyone else. "Look House! What's that under her arm?"

House walked up to her and grabbed her arm. She struggled and said many obscene things that can't be said here. House turned her arm over and examined it. It was like some strange, oddly shaped, black marking underneath her arm. It was slightly raised off her skin. Keira ran and turned Allie's head away, while House grabbed a needle and injected it into the anomaly. The fluid that came out was pure black.

"Oh my…" Keira said. "Her lymph nodes on her neck are huge. It looks like they might burst any minute. They're rock solid."

Foreman looked at the fluid in the syringe, "What is that!"

"Black Death." House was turning the syringe around and around in his hands.

"Wait," Chase said in shock. "You mean the bubonic plague?"

"The black plague, right?" Keira asked. "Does that mean that my diagnosis was right?"

House nodded, "Yes, nicely done. Among all of the members of our team, you look the most likely so far to take over my position when I leave."

"Really?" Keira was ecstatic.

"Don't get too excited. I'm not leaving any time soon. But if Cuddy forces me away on some business trip, I'll leave you in charge." For once, House seemed sincere.

"Hello? I'm still here you know." Allie complained.

"Well," House said. "Good news for you is that we caught it soon enough before you died. But the bad news is that you'll need a mental evaluation. I'm sending you to the psych ward, 3rd floor."

"Wait a second, Dr. House. Couldn't the psychoness have been caused by the illness, thing?"

"No. You're just crazy. But the rest of your symptoms were caused by the plague."

Allie shook her head, "I'm not going to that psych ward. Got it? No way, no how. Plus, I have to go back and find that cat that was walking the high school grounds. I was gonna keep it."

"Idiot!" House yelled. "That cat probably had fleas that carried the plague, you moron. That's why you don't mess with strays. Oops, I forgot, you are like a stray."

"Oh, that's it, Dr. House! You are going down! You want to insult me? Well, I beg to differ. If you want a verbal fight, you are messing with the wrong woman!" Allie looked ready to fight.

House snickered, "You're a woman? Could have sworn that you were a man."

"Oh, that's it!" Allie charged after House, who batted her away with his cane.

"I'm stronger than you think. Go hide in a corner 'o little one."

"At least I can out run you. I love to see you try and chase me, I'll beat you walking. So, bring it on, old man."

Keira, Chase, and Foreman just stood there in awe. It was no surprise to see House fighting with a patient, but this time it was more amusing than ever. They slung verbal insults and occasionally made physical contact. Keira sighed, "I'll go get the treatment."

Chase nodded, "I'll go alert the psych ward."

"And I'll stay and watch." Foreman said.

Before they had a chance to even go off and do their normal routines, there was an announcement, "Attention all doctors we have a code purple. All patient rooms are to be locked and a doctor to stay and attend to critically ill patients. Department heads are to move themselves and their team into their offices at this time. All doors are to remain locked and no one is to enter or leave the building. This is an emergency code purple. Repeat, an emergency code purple. Please head to your designated areas at this time."

The hospital shook with a sudden rumble, "We have to go." House said. "We'll bring Allen—"

"Allie." She indignantly replied.

"—with us to the department of diagnostics. You heard me now go!"

_**There is an emergency situation at Haven City Teaching Hospital and things aren't looking good. Lives are at stake here and trouble is brewing. When the situation gets worse, House's team makes a desperate move to try to move Cameron up to the Diagnostic Department. But it won't be that easy, and Allie may come in handy during this time. And who heroically decides to do and save Dr. Cuddy, Ashelin, and Jak? You'll be surprised at this one. But what is the threat? You'll have to wait and see in the next chapter, being a doctor has never been so complicated. **_

_**Thanks again and please R and R!**_


	5. A Friend in Need

**_Chapter 5: A Friend in Need is finally here! There is a huge emergency at Haven City Teaching Hospital that will send the hospital into a downward spiral. But the first order of business is making it out alive, but the question is will everyone make it? Some of the descriptions here may be a little graphic, so here's your warning now. _**

With two precisely aimed gunshots, Ashelin took down the most vile of creatures. A glowing skull cap, gigantic killer claws, and a body that oozed dark eco, there was just no denying it: there were metal heads in the hospital. In a moment's notice, Jak busted into a dash and brought himself low to the ground, then sprung into the air taking his fist and sending a metal head flying.

-_Crack_-

It was the stomach churning, ear shattering, sickening sound of a metal head's jaw being cracked out of place. It landed to the ground crying painfully, emitting haunting shrieks of pain. Jak swung around with lightning speed and snatched a scalpel out of Cuddy's lab coat. He launched it like a dagger and it pierced the creature's eye and it must have hit the brain because it fell limp and it's eyes grew cloudy. Jak casually strolled over to it's body and pulled the scalpel out of it's eye with a little gush. He cleaned it off and handed it back to Cuddy.

Cuddy was paralyzed with fear and confusion. She warily took the scalpel back and set it back in her pocket. How did the metal heads get into the hospital? What did they want? Cuddy's mind was racing a thousand and one questions and she couldn't bear to imagine what happened to the bodies of the deceased in the morgue.

Ashelin walked towards the morgue doors. "Maybe we should go in and--"

"No." Cuddy commanded with a shaky voice. "We'll deal with that later, but not now." The truth of the matter was that she didn't want to know what happened in the morgue, she'd rather it wait. "We have to issue a code purple."

"Actually, one was already issued." Jak said. "There have to be others in the building that were spotted elsewhere."

Ashelin followed up Jak's comment, "Precautions have already been taken. All doors are locked. Multiple doctors are staying in patient's rooms ready to defend just in case, all elevators have been halted, and--"

"Wait, we've halted all elevators?" Cuddy's voice turned from fearing to worried.

"Yeah, why?"

"House…" Cuddy slowly breathed out.

"Damn, she's right." Jak shook his head. "I know that House and his team didn't make it up to the forth floor. They couldn't have by now. Their probably still stuck on the first floor…with no where to go."

Cuddy dashed off and Ashelin yelled, "Where are you going?!"

"I have to find House and his team! I'll take them with me and they can stay in my office. You two split up and make sure that everyone gets out of this alive. Find somewhere safe for stray wanderers in the hospital and kill every damn metal head in your way!"

"What about you?!" Jak was referring to her weaponlessness.

Cuddy reached into the large bag she was carrying around and pulled out a tennis racket. "I think I'll manage." And before they knew it, she was gone. After all, Cuddy was a star tennis player in her spare time.

Jak and Ashelin looked at each other. "I'll cover one half of the first floor, you get the other?"

Ashelin nodded. "Let's go." And they both split up in opposite directions.

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Allie was running so fast down the hall that everything that she passed by was just a swirl of color and every sound was just a rush of wind. It was amazing how fast she recovered, but it just goes to show how far medicine has advanced. She came to a screeching halt as her shoes skidded across the floor. She extended her arm and hit the elevator's open button. When it didn't respond she kept hitting it. By the time House and his team had finally arrived she made the determination that, "They shut the elevators down." Allie panted.

"I knew we wouldn't get here in time." Foreman shook his head sadly. "They always shut the elevators down during a code purple. We just weren't fast enough."

"Sure, blame it on the cripple." House hissed sarcastically.

"House," Keira said agitatedly. "just shut up."

Allie stood there for a moment, "Could I ask what a code purple is?"

Cameron answered with, "A code purple happens when metal heads get into the hospital. They shut down everything and even lock the stairwell doors so they don't spread to the upper levels of the building. All doors are locked and we wait for a response team to clear them out so it's safe again."

"So, you are telling me that we are stuck on the first floor with a bunch of killer, ravenous metal heads that would like to make us their next meal?!" Allie was starting to panic a little.

"In general, if that's how you want to look at it." Cameron tried to fake a smile to make Allie feel better, but it wasn't working.

"Isn't there a patient room that we can hide in for a while?" she whined.

"Umm…" Chase said. "We don't keep actual patient rooms on the first floor."

"WHAT KIND OF HOSPITAL IS THIS!!! NO PATIENT ROOMS ON THE FIRST FLOOR?!!" Allie was in complete panic mode right now.

"Shut up you whiney little bitch!" House yelled at her. "You'll attract metal heads to us with the frequency of your voice. So if you don't want to die, just shut up and get a grip."

"House, stop it." Keira laid a gentle hand on Allie's shoulder, "Don't worry, we'll get out of this."

With a ring, House's cell phone went off. He picked it up. "House."

On the other end, "Thank god, House it's me, Cuddy. Where are you? Are you alright?"

"Where do you think we are? We're in the hospital, stuck on the first floor, thanks to your moronic Code Purple system." House said in his typical demeanor.

"Don't start with me, House." Cuddy warned. "Can you move you and your team to my office? I'll meet you there, ok? And please be careful." Cuddy hung up.

"Alright." House said. "Let's go."

"Where?" His team seemed to ask in unison.

"We're meeting Cuddy in her office, let's get going." House was already on the move and his team trailed behind him.

Allie's eyes wandered as they made their way to Cuddy's office, making fairly good time. Out of the corner of her eye, she spotted something. It was fast, but maybe it was just her imagination running wild. I mean, really, it was a plain hallway. There was nothing to hide behind, so she'd see it if it was there. She stared down the plain white hallway some more when she saw it again. She felt the wind of movement whoosh past her. Something was here, but she couldn't see it. There it went again, and a few times more. She was going to say something, when she yelled, "Dr. House!" Allie threw herself into a perfect spin kick, her leg connecting with the torso of a metal head that was aiming itself for House. Worst of all was that it was a cloaker. "This hallway is infested with these stupid cloakers! We'll never make it out."

"Then we'll move faster, let's go." This was the fastest that House has ever moved with his cane. Each step was even more painful than the last, but he'd rather be in pain that die at the current moment. He could reach into his pocket for a Vicodin but it would slow them down and the first priority was to get out of this hallway and they were so close to Cuddy's office.

Chase dashed forward and landed a solid uppercut on a metal head bound for Keira. Keira smiled, "Thanks, but let me return the favor." Keira pulled a scalpel out of her pocket, jumped over a crouched down Chase, grabbed on to the creature and forcefully pushed her scalpel into the metal head's heart region. It screamed and cried and Keira painfully and slowly removed the scalpel and it collapsed to the ground dead.

--_Whack_--

House leaned all of his weight to his good leg and sent his cane into the nearest "obstruction". Casually, he placed his cane back down to the ground, "There's the clinic, let's go."

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Ashelin was moving fast, staying ever alert. Her eyes scanned the general vicinity. Nothing was under the chairs of stretchers. She peeked past the ER curtains and caught nothing out of the ordinary. Maybe they didn't make it this far down. That was until she heard the shrill scream of a woman down the all. Ashelin pulled her gun off of its holster and ran towards the sound.

When she got there she saw Stacy fighting off two metal heads. Or at least she was trying to. She was backed into a corner holding a curtain rod and trying to make many failed attempts to jab at the metal heads. Ashelin took aim and fired, knocking the beasts out cold.

Stacy sighed, "Thanks so much. I…umm…kind of needed that."

"Sure, whatever." Ashelin replied. "Come on let's--"

"Look out!" Stacy yelled as she pulled the curtain rod back and slammed it down with all of her might. "Hiiyaa!!" Her "weapon" cracked against a metal head's skull. "We're even?"

"Yeah," Ashelin nodded. "We're even. Now let's go. The halls are clear from here, we'll run straight down the halls and out of this hell hole."

Before they left, Stacy said, "You know, we make a pretty good team."

Ashelin warned, "Don't push it."

"Friends just for now?"

Ashelin smiled a little, "Yeah." And then they sped down the hall together.

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Cuddy was almost there. She was running at full speed down the last stretch of beige hallway. She looked and saw House and his team with Allie headed for her office door. She ran faster, "House!!" She called.

House responded and turned around. His expression quickly changed, "Lisa! Behind you!!"

It must be urgent if House called her by her first name. Cuddy swung her tennis racket behind her and smacked a metal head out of her way. From a distance, again she heard a "Look out!!" It was too late for Cuddy to react. By the time she turned around, the metal head already had its claw out pointed at her face. But from the corner of her eyes, she spotted and orange streak.

That tiny, orange streak was Daxter. His tiny, little claws caught the metal heads eyes. It thrashed around trying to throw Daxter off, but he held strong and actually saved Cuddy. When the beast stopped and slowly died, Daxter landed in front of Cuddy and smiled, "Orange Lightning at you service. I'll turn Metal Heads into scrap heap. You ok, Dr. Cuddy?"

"Thank you so much!!" Cuddy smiled happily and gave him a hug and kiss. From the looks of it the lobby was clear of metal heads. It seemed that they were only deep in the hospital. House and his team with Allie came over and rejoiced with her.

"Awesome job, Daxter!" Keira congratulated.

Ashelin was seen running towards them, "I need help fast! Stacy is severely hurt!"

Just then Jak came around another corner, "I need help! We have a man down!"

Allie mumbled, "I guess I'm not going home anytime soon…"

Cuddy stood, "let's split up."

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_**In Chapter six, they'll really be heading into the fire. This emergency situation only get more dangerous as two people are injured to the verge of death and it's up to House and his trusty team to save them while combating with metal heads. And something strange is going on when the hospital receives no emergency team and are left to fend for themselves. **_

_**Thanks again to COme as yOu are for letting me use Allie for this story. She's an awesome addition. And thanks again to all of my faithful readers. Please review and take a look at the Keira, M.D. forum which now has a special sneak peek section that will give you some future events that will be a bit shocking. **_


	6. Into the Fire

**_Welcome to chapter 6: Into the Fire. In this chapter House, Cuddy, and the team have to set aside all of their concerns for the hospital and their well being to save the lives of two others. With the hospital under attack by ravenous metal head forces it will be a struggle to stay alive. Can everyone make it or will someone be left behind? And how much would you sacrifice for the one you love? You'll have to read to see. _**

Cuddy stood there with her "all business, no fun" attitude on her face. She was rearing and ready to go. '_I have to do this…' _Cuddy said to herself. '_I need to set myself aside to save someone else. It's not just about me.' _Cuddy cleared her throat. "Alright, we'll have to go to the patients, so we'll split up into two teams for the time being, until the emergency team arrives. Keira and House will be captains. Pick your team so we can go."

House stood there strongly. Although he popped about two Vicodin a few minutes ago, he still seemed alert and able to function, which is what Cuddy worried most about. It would be a mess having a doctor high as hell working on a patient. He seemed alright though. House was shaking his head. "I want my team to go with me."

"We need at least one doctor with us, no can do." Cuddy said apologetically.

"You're a doctor." House argued.

Cuddy lowered her head. "I haven't really treated a patient in—"

"That doesn't matter. Let's go." House gestured to his team and they began to follow Ashelin to where Stacy was. Before House left, he lowered himself to Cuddy's ear and whispered, "I know you can do it. A life is counting on you. And I'm nothing without my team, now make do with yours." House hustled off and signaled to her not to tell anyone what he had just said.

Cuddy nodded, '_House is right. I have to do this.' _Cuddy looked at her 'team'. "Allie and Jak, lets go. We've got work to do."

Allie shook her head, "I can't. I'm not a doctor. What can I do to help? Nothing is what."

Cuddy gave her a quick hug to encourage her, "You can do it. You'll learn. You don't have to be a doctor to save someone. Anyone can be a hero. But I do need your help, doctor or not. I'll show you all that I know."

Allie considered this. This was a hugely dangerous situation. '_What did I get myself into?_' Allie just sighed. "Ok then, let's go into the fire! I'm ready to kick some metal head ass!!"

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Ashelin maneuvered the halls with ease, gently navigating the team down the path to Stacy. Ashelin hoped that Stacy was alright. After all, she had left her with a bunch of metal heads that were ready to tear her to a thousand shreds. Although Ashelin and Stacy weren't the best of friends to begin with, they were learning to like each other and they were beginning to grow closer to each other. No longer enemies, they were now becoming close friends.

"Are we almost there?" House asked.

"Almost." Ashelin replied. They would have been there by now if they didn't have to slow down a bit for House.

They rounded one more corner before they got close to Stacy. It was noted in everyone's mind that there were no metal heads closer to the lobby anymore; they were now deeper in the hospital. Their wicked cries could be heard in the distance as they scavenged through the hospital. They were looking for a way to the upper levels. "Here!" Ashelin yelled.

What they came to was a barrier crudely made up of a hospital bed and several nurses' carts. Ashelin quickly removed all of the obstructions and allowed the team to get close to Stacy to examine her. House stood back as the team hastily attended to her. House just examined her from afar.

"We've got claw marks through the abdomen." Chase reported. "But it seems as though the bleeding has subsided. But she also has lost a substantial amount of blood."

Cameron grabbed a thermometer off of one of the carts and placed it under Stacy's tongue. "She's cold." After a moment Cameron pulled it out and looked. "Her body temperature is at 79.1 degrees Fahrenheit. That's more than twenty degrees below normal, she needs a transfusion."

"There is no way she can get one _now_." Foreman said sadly. "It's just not possible. She obviously has severe blood loss and dark eco poisoning. There is nothing more than we can do. Until the emergency team comes, sweeps the building, and gives us clearance, there is no way that we can access the blood stores and transfuse it to her. It will be too late by then, she's dying right now."

Keira stood and approached House, "We need to either get her a donor stat, or we have to let her die." Sadness flooded Keira's eyes, she knew how much House still cared for Stacy and it killed her to know that House had to face this choice, this terrible twist of fate.

House lowered his head, trying to hide what he felt, "I don't know." He mumbled.

"What?"

"I don't know what else to do." House said in a fit of anger. "I don't know what else to do. Find a syringe filled with morphine to put her out."

"We can't do that! It's wrong and—"

Suddenly, Stacy awoke. She was screaming blood murder. Not only were her wounds pulsating with pain, but she was freezing to death with her sudden drop in body temperature, and the searing acid of dark eco coursing through her veins, eating her from the inside out.

Cameron gestured for Keira to take a breather and step back, "I'll get the syringe."

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Jak took Cuddy and Allie to the ravaged West wing. It looked as if a tornado had ripped through the entire area. Tables were overturned, papers were tossed about, chairs were ripped to shreds, and it was a horrible mess. The dummies for practice medical interns were nothing more than shattered figures that were scattered everywhere. Nothing could have survived if anything was in here.

Jak open the supply closet door which was probably the only untouched room in the entire first floor. When Cuddy and Allie looked inside, then again, maybe it wasn't. Everything had come crashing down to the floor. And this was the main supply closet, so it was filled to the top with spare stretchers, heavy boxes filled with all assortments of things from syringes to printer paper, and even tables. And at the very bottom of the cascade of items a very familiar face was at the bottom.

It was Stacy's husband, Mark. Why he was here no one could seem to figure, but he didn't look so good. "As far as I can tell, he has no wounds from the metal heads, but he appeared to have been hiding in here when a few of the tremors happened and the stuff piled in this closet just came crashing down on him. I can't get him out without help."

Cuddy and Allie nodded at each other in silent agreement to help Jak. In an instant they all began to toss things out of the closet in a rush. Mark wasn't responding. They moved quicker and quicker to move all of the stuff to see if he was still alive. '_Stacy is going to be devastated…' _Cuddy thought to herself. Jak was thinking, '_I really hope this guy is still alive, I think I've seen enough for one day.'_ Allie was the fastest of the bunch, '_This is a stupid way to die. Maybe he's still alive…hmm…do doctors do this kind of stuff all the time?'_

After they had managed to pull Mark out, Cuddy grabbed her stethoscope out and began to check his breathing and Jak began to probe around for broken bones. Allie stood there, looking around. She pulled out a stretcher and readied it, "Here," she said. "Put him on here."

Jak and Cuddy did a gently team lift, "Thank you." Cuddy continued to check his breathing and pulse. "He's alive." She announced. "But his breathing is shallow and pulse is very low. I would try CPR, but his lungs aren't accepting any air at all. The pressure from the dropped stuff in the closet crushed his lungs. He's dying and we have no time for a lung transplant. Jak call House and let him know what is going on."

Before Jak even had a chance to call House, Cuddy's phone rang. "Cuddy." She answered.

"Cuddy, it's House. Stacy is dying. The wounds can be fixed, but she's lost tons of blood and needs a transfusion. To top that off, we'd have to transfuse all of her blood because it is affected with dark eco."

"Oh my…" Cuddy's voice trailed off. She felt so bad for House. He was losing the woman he once, and maybe even still, loved. And House's team must be devastated. They are so used to saving lives all of the time and now this time they're losing one. It was all too much to take in.

"Dr. Cuddy?" Jak said quietly. "Mark is alive and speaking, but he's only speaking with his few last breaths. His blood pressure is dropping and pulse is rapidly declining. But he wants to speak with you."

"Umm, House, hold on just a minute." Cuddy rushed over to Mark's side. "Mark, can you hear me. You are in Haven City Teaching Hospital. Your lungs are severely crushed and slowly you are—"

"Dying." Mark answered in a shallow breath. "I came…here to…apologize…to Stacy." He took as deep of a breath as he could. "I…want her to know I'm…sorry."

Jak left Allie, who was using him as a pillow to catch a little bit of sleep in the hallway, came over to Mark's other side, "I'm sorry, but Stacy is dying from Dark Eco poisoning. We can't get her a transfusion, and we can't get you a lung transfusion either. I'm sorry."

Mark was starting to lose consciousness; slowly he was slipping away, "Give…Stacy my blood…after…I die. We're the same…type AB positive…and tell…her that…I…love…" Then there was nothing. His eyes closed and breathing stopped. He came all of this way to say sorry to his wife and now she never got to hear it from him. Never got to hear his sorry. Never got to hear that he loved her. And she never got to say goodbye. But he did leave one thing behind, a second chance at life for Stacy, but how would she cope with this. This was no time to be thinking about that, Cuddy picked her phone back up.

"House?"

"What's going on?" He replied.

"Bring Stacy to the first OR room, we have a donor for her."

House seemed puzzled, "Who?"

"Her dead husband." Cuddy replied with a voice filled with sorrow. And then she hung up.

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Cameron was filling a needle with morphine, when House snatched the needle from her. "Take Stacy to an OR." He commanded.

"Why?" Cameron asked.

Keira chimed in with, "What's going on?"

"We have a donor for her, but we have no time to waste talking about everything. Chase and Keira prep Stacy and get and OR ready. Foreman and Cameron, find a way to get Stacy to the OR. Now everyone move your asses." When they froze for a minute, House added, "Move your asses means now, so go." Every hustled off.

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_**In chapter seven: Funeral for a Friend, Chase and Keira take on a specialized transfusion for Stacy, but will it work? And with the threats of metal heads in the general vicinity not diminishing, Cuddy begins to wonder it help will ever arrive. But when she gets a surprise phone call, things aren't looking good for HCTH. They're in deep trouble now. That andd much more will be happening. **_

_**Thanks for reading and please review!!**_


	7. Transfusion

**_Chapter 7: Transfusion. Chase and Keira must work together to perform a successful transfusion of Stacy's dead husband's blood to the just barely hanging on Stacy. Do Chase and Keira have enough experience for a successful transfusion to save Stacy? And later on things are going to get a little heated between Chase and Keira. Cuddy also gets a surprising phone call that may force her to lie to the one person that has power over everything. And Cuddy's got a dirty little secret (part taken from TV show). _**

Their bodies lay on the cold steel tables of Haven City Teaching Hospital's emergency Operating Room. Stacy lay sedated on a table to the left of the room; her vitals were closely monitored by Drs. Chase and Keira. Although this was a time of emergency Cuddy was forced to hold true to the rules that only authorized personnel were allowed in the OR during any type of surgery. Keira pulled a tight black band around Mark's arm, which allowed his veins to become prominent. She carefully inserted a needle into Mark's arm, careful not to miss the vein. The needle was attached to a large machine that was on a movable cart. The machine was designed to clean the blood before they sent it over to Stacy.

About five feet away from Keira was Dr. Chase. He was busy performing the same procedure with Stacy. He took the band, tied it around her arm, and pushed a needle into her arm. Except this time, she had another needle in her other arm, which was attached to a completely different machine that was smaller, but it pushed the blood into a pig. (Yes, you read right, a pig. And this is a real fact, as is all of the medical stuff in this story.) A pig's liver can clean blood in ways that the human liver can't. By sending the blood through the pig's liver it cleans all contaminants out of the blood and is sent back into the person. It's a very safe procedure for the person and the pig, and very effective as well.

Chase started up the machine that would clean what was left of Stacy's blood before they sent the blood from her husband to her. Stacy had lost so much blood that there wasn't enough left to keep her alive. She was put into a chemically induced coma to stall for time to keep any of her organs from failing. Chase and Keira stood nervously, hoping that this would turn out well. It was the first time that any of them were in charge of their own patient's life. It was nerve wracking.

Chase stared at the monitors that measured Stacy's vitals, "Something in my gut just tells me that something is going to go wrong. I just don't know what."

Keira kept her eyes on the procedure of cleaning Stacy's blood, "Don't say that…" She poked Chase in the side. "You might jinx us."

Chase uneasily laughed a little, "You know, you have a completely different perspective on a procedure or surgery if you are the one who has to take charge of saving the life. I'm used to assisting surgeries and all of that, but actually being in charge of one. It just feels so different."

"I understand what you mean."

"That's what I like about you." Chase admitted. "You look at things from another's point of view. Or at least you try to. It makes you an easy person to talk to."

Keira smiled, "Thanks." There was an uneasy silence. "How long is left on this thing? I just want to get this over with."

Chase thought about it, "Oh, I'd say about ten minutes. Then we can begin the transfusion."

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"What do you think they're talking about?" House pondered nosily. House, Cameron, Foreman, Cuddy, Jak, and Allie stood in a booth high above the operating room that allowed them to see what was going on.

"Why don't you mind your own business? Does it matter?" Allie retorted, frustrated.

House sighed indignantly, "Well I just can have my doctors creating little mini doctors if you know what I mean."

"Gross." Allie commented.

Cuddy stomped over to them, "Stop it, both of you. Allie don't listen to House, he's an idiot. And House, must you confront every person that dares to say something to you?"

House smiled snidely, "Yes, Miss-low-cut-blouse. You do know that it's very unprofessional to walk around with you 'bust' hanging out like that?"

Jak began to smile and laugh. Cuddy turned to him with a pure red face, "Not funny."

House cleared his throat and pulled out a sheet of paper from a file. He handed it to Cuddy, "You know that you don't have cancer, right."

"And you don't have dwarfism." Cuddy sarcastically said and took the paper.

"Ah, but you don't have proof."

Cuddy read over the paper. Jak and Allie just couldn't help but be nosey and stare over her shoulder. Cuddy's jaw dropped a little, "You took a sample from me? Without my consent? And you tested it? For cancer?"

"Let me explain, that oncologist that you went to dinner with brought back a sample. He just never got the results back, but I did. Apparently, you'd want to do to dinner with an oncologist to talk about cancer, but apparently you didn't. But I did find one thing out…" House pointed at the bottom of the sheet. "You have high estrogen levels."

Cuddy shook her head, "Look, no matter what anyone has said or told you I am and always have been a woman. We have high levels of estrogen naturally, you moron."

"You're on fertility meds." House bluntly said.

Jak and Allie gasped and looked at each other. "Do you think she is?" Allie whispered. She never knew that this is what went on inside of a hospital. You'd think that it was all just business, but she guessed not. So much drama and gossip, it was more fun than it looked.

Jak looked to make sure that no one was listening. "I could believe it."

Cuddy's phone rang thankfully and it interrupted the conversation. She answered it, "This is Dr. Lisa Cuddy, Dean of Medicine of Haven City Teaching Hospital, and how can I help you?" She listened for a moment and her expression changed from a smile to a pure frown. "What the hell are you talking about?!"

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Chase and Keira had been in the OR for at least two hours now. They carefully monitored vitals as they watched the blood from Mark's body go into Stacy's. Now Mark really was a part of Stacy, and Stacy apart of Mark. Things were going smoothly so far. This was good. It proved that Chase and Keira were able to take charge of their own procedure with accurate efficiency. Keira turned to Chase, "This is going to be hard for House."

"I'd have to agree with you there." Chase nodded.

"Even though he is a mean and miserable person, there still is good in him, deep deep deep deep deep deep down."

Chase laughed, "Yeah, it's not even microscopic. Makes the Grinch look like a saint."

They both just busted into laughter. It was a long time since Chase had really been able to laugh like that. It felt good. Chase turned to Keira, "Hey, I figured that we're never going to get around to that dinner. So why don't you come over to my house. I'll attempt to make you dinner."

Keira laughed, "Attempt, huh? Sure, that sounds good to me."

An emergency sound shrilly buzzed through the room. Chase looked hastily up at the monitors. "She's not getting any oxygen! We need to ventilate! Wheel that cart over to me." Keira wheeled it over and Chase grabbed the ventilator off of it. He put it to Stacy's mouth and nose and began to gently squeeze the end of it. "She's still not getting any air!"

"I'll handle the tracheotomy!" Keira grabbed a scalpel off of the cart and created a small slit in Stacy's throat. While holding the incision together, Keira grabbed a large curved, knife like object and pushed it into the incision. After doing that Keira removed a part of the trachea and pushed a tube into her throat. She attached a ventilator to that and began to ventilate. Keira monitored the stats. "O2 stats have returned to normal."

Suddenly, another warning buzzer went off. "Her heart is failing! She's having a heart attack!" Chase grabbed another cart that was close by. It was "the paddles". He pulled them off and placed a paddle over Stacy's heart and her side. "Charging… Clear!" Chase gave her a jolt. There was still nothing. "Charging… clear!" Another jolt sent through the paddles finally bought Stacy's heart back. "She's got a pulse."

Once more another warning buzzer went off. "What now?!" Keira yelled. "She's bleeding into her abdomen! What the hell is going on?"

Chase yelled up to the team, which was high above the Operating Room and viewing them. Chase waved them down, "We need help in here!!"

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Jak looked down and saw the frantic team of two running about. Chase was waving for help and had hit the emergency button. Jak looked House, Cuddy, and the others, "Something is wrong. Chase and Keira need our help. We need to move fast." Jak was already out the door and House, Cameron, and Foreman followed soon after.

Cuddy hung back on the phone, "What do you mean you won't send a response team to deal with this threat?!" Cuddy listened. "What the hell do you mean we're under investigation?!" Cuddy listened some more. "Well, if we don't get a response team out here there will be nothing left to investigate, Baron!" Cuddy shook her head. "Great, thanks." She spoke the last part with sarcasm and hung up the phone and went down to the OR with the others.

_**In Chapter eight things will be getting tight. Chase and Keira finally get to do a dinner with each other, at Chase's house. Cuddy has a little secret to reveal and has to deal with the hospital being under investigation but none other than the Baron. It's going to be a fight like no other. **_

_**Thanks for reading! Please Review!!**_


	8. Reflections

-1**_After a long bout of writer's block and other issues to attend to, chapter eight "Reflections" is finally up! Will Stacy be able to walk out of this alive? The Baron has a little surprise for Haven City Teaching Hospital as well… a full blown investigation that has Cuddy keeping secrets from Haven City's tyrant. Everyone take some time to reflect. _**

"What's going on?" House yelled as he came into the room as quickly as he could with his cane. He peered over Stacy. She looked so peaceful, yet inside of her, her body was waging war.

Keira shook her head, "First, her O2 stats dropped, we had to give her a tracheotomy so we could get her air, then she had a heart attack, and after that she started bleeding into her abdomen. We managed to stop all three of these from killing her, but for how long, we are not sure."

Chase continued after Keira stopped, "Basically, she need a new heart and lungs. How are we going to manage that?"

"Shouldn't her body be able to heal the lungs on its own?" Jak remembered reading something about that in an article.

"Normally, yes." Keira answered. "But her body is damaged beyond all belief. The dark eco poisoned her body. Until we find the source of it and remove all of the dark eco from her system, slowly, all of her bodily systems will shut down and she'll die." Keira glanced over at House, expecting him to show some sort of emotion, but he didn't.

"Keep her in a chemically induced coma, we need to figure out where and why." House left and that was usually the signal to go to their little meeting room and discuss what to do.

"This is the last thing that all of us need." Keira sighed.

Jak came over and rested a hand on her shoulder, "It'll be fine. She'll make it."

"Not at this rate."

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The entire team organized themselves in the Diagnostic meeting room. Cuddy, Jak, and Allie even found some place to stand so they could assist in any way possible. Allie hesitated, but soon kneeled down next to Cuddy and whispered to her, "Are the metal heads gone yet?"

"The Baron is sending a team to clear them out. I'm so lucky I was able to get that. Our hospital is under investigation currently, which I didn't know, and we were actually supposed to be left here to deal with the metal heads ourselves. The Baron thinks that we're assisting the Underground, so he cut all ties with us until that he is sure that we aren't."

"Are you?"

"Are we what?"

Allie spoke even softer, "Are you aligned with the Underground?"

Cuddy hesitated to answer, "Yes, but the Baron isn't going to find that out is he?"

Allie noted her tone of voice and answered, "Nope."

House was scribbling the recent "issues" that took place in the OR on the whiteboard. '_Respiratory distress, cardiac arrest, abdominal bleeding' _were the listed symptoms. Dramatically, House put the cap back on the marker and placed it down again.

"And the academy award goes to…" Cameron said dryly to House's dramatic marker scene and his ability to act like her doesn't care about Stacy.

"Dark Eco Poisoning." Foreman answered. "It's a classic case of it. The symptoms fit perfectly."

"No, they don't." House said, his eyes fixed on the whiteboard.

"Yes, they do." Foreman retorted back.

"Abdominal bleeding makes no sense."

"Yes, it does." Keira sounded frustrated. "Everything makes sense. You just don't want to see that. You want it to be something else because you know damn well that we can't get a transplant for her lungs or heart at this time. We can cure the disease, but we can't save her and that makes you feel guilty. And if you're guilty, that makes you responsible for her death, and if you're responsible for her death, it means that you failed and you can't live with that, can you?"

There was a long silence. The electricity in the room just stopped, it's like everything stopped. Everyone's eyes seemed frozen in their position, just staring anywhere, at anything. House seemed frozen, his entire body still facing the whiteboard. Without looking at anyone, he commanded in a emotionless voice. "Give her the vaccine for the Dark Eco Poisoning."

"We already did." Chase said.

"Then tell her that she is going to die."

Keira seemed to have toned down a bit. "Maybe you should tell her."

"Cameron--" House asked.

Cameron lowered her eyes, "Keira is right, House. It's all on you."

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Later that night, everyone had left the hospital. After the whole ordeal had happened everyone just left. The hospital was swept over, with any remaining metal heads gone. Cuddy was dealing with the business of arguing over the phone with the Baron, while attempting to get the hospital back in order. House hadn't left yet as far as anyone knew. A lot of the personnel was still there, but those without anything to do just left. Even Ashelin went home because Cuddy said that maybe it was best for her to just go.

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Cameron sat alone at home, staring at a picture. It was a wedding photo of her and her husband who died from brain cancer a while ago. Seeing House and Stacy, it made her remember what it felt like to begin to lose someone that you love. Just knowing that they were slowly slipping away from you. You think that time would make it easier to accept, but it actually made it harder. It's easier to lose someone in a car accident rather than by cancer. When they're slowly dying like that, every time you see them you know that they'll be gone soon and every time you see them it makes you sad.

Cameron just sat in her living room, crying alone.

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Foreman sat at a red light waiting to get home. All that was on his mind was how House must feel. Granted, Foreman didn't exactly like House, but he didn't hate him either. He actually felt bad for the guy most of the time. He was well aware that House loved Stacy, and he did feel for House, losing probably the only woman on the planet that could love a man like him. Foreman shook his head, House wasn't a bad guy on purpose, he was just lonely and broken.

As the light changed green, Foreman took off for home.

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Keira was at Chase's house. She was enjoying the dinner that Chase made. He did do a good job though, even if it was only a Chef Salad. All that Keira and Chase talked about though was House and Stacy. It was just implanted in their minds. All they could think about was the inner turmoil that House must feel and they also felt hurt because they were soon going to lose Stacy. They remembered all of the better times that they'd seen House and Stacy have ever since she returned and all of the bad.

They continued to finish their dinner, minds consumed with the thought of Stacy and House.

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Ashelin sat in the lobby of Haven City Teaching Hospital. She just couldn't bring herself to go home and stay home. She just thought about how far her and Stacy have gotten from being enemies to best friends. It was true, Stacy was Ashelin best friend. Her only true female friend. She couldn't lose her now. Ashelin scowled a bit, everything good in her life had been destroyed by fate. Maybe she was never meant to be happy. Did she deserve that chance? Maybe she hasn't and losing Stacy will prove that nothing good in her life was ever meant to be.

Ashelin sat quietly in the lobby. As chaos seemed to be buzzing around her, she remained unaffected.

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Jak was sitting in an ambulance. He watched everything pass by in a blur. These past few days have taught him something that he just couldn't place. He felt different though. As if he were this different person and saw things through different eyes. Hearing that Stacy was going to die made him realize his own mortality in this world. Was every destined to face the same fate someday? If the world keeps going on the road it is, will this be everyone's fate. To watch people they care about die and then soon die after them. The metal heads had to be stopped. He just couldn't let Stacy's soon to be death be in vein.

Jak continued to watch the scene pass by, as he knew that he'd soon arrive at the door of someone else that was dying.

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Cuddy had finished her yelling on the phone. Although they were now under investigation for being aligned with the Underground, she knew that the Baron wouldn't find anything. She was good at keeping secrets. But all this time the thought of House and Stacy wouldn't leave her mind. Did everyone think this as well? Cuddy knew that House felt pain and it hurt Cuddy to know that Stacy was going to die. But at the same time, it made her feel better that she'd be gone, because House wouldn't have to see her and remember his painful past with her anymore and she'd be able to make a move on House. Cuddy cringed. What a sick thought. Did she actually just think that?

Cuddy shivered a bit and continued to do her work. She was ready to move on. Her phone rang and she answered the call. After a brief conversation, she took off down the hall, maybe things were starting to look up after all.

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House was seated at Stacy's side. He was holding her hand, stroking it gently with his thumb. Stacy stared back into his eyes. "You look sad." Stacy weakly said and she touched his face.

House paused for a minute. "I… I really don't want to lose you, Stacy."

Stacy was taken aback by his sudden display of emotion, he never did that. "Please Greg, at this point, I think I really do just want to let go and just d--"

"Don't say it." House interrupted.

"I love you, Greg. You know that better that you think you do." Stacy smiled.

"I love you, too."

Stacy felt warmed by his words. "Then if you love me, you'll let me go."

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_**I can't really give a summary for the next chapter without giving everything away. Anyway, thanks for reading and keep an eye out for the much anticipated Chapter 9!! Thanks for reading and as always please review!!!**_


	9. Rebirth

**_Chapter nine, "Rebirth" is here!! It's a fairly short chapter, but you'll see why…_**

_Everyone has their own beliefs, their own thoughts, and their own opinions. Some believe in life after death, some don't. In the end, though, there is one thing that we all can agree on… we all die at some point. Some sooner than others. Time is a strange thing. We can be living one minute and then we are gone the next. There is no telling when because fate is a twisted thing. _

_Fate can be cruel, very, very cruel. _

This is no cliché thing. There is no rain outside, it bright and sunny. It's a nice and beautiful day. A gentle breeze is blowing in from the South and there is not a cloud in the sky. You can hear the birds singing and children playing in the distance. It's a perfect day. Too bad Stacy can't enjoy it as a matter of fact; she'll never enjoy a day like this again.

Keira was standing close to Jak. Her hand was tightly gripping his wrist. She couldn't figure why she wore any makeup today, it had smeared due to the abundance of tears that were streaking her face. It was a mixture of black eyeliner and light brown eye shadow. Her hand continually wiped the tears away, smearing the makeup even more. She looked like a train wreck and walked closer to Cameron, Cuddy, and Ashelin.

The women chose by instinct to stick close together. They were huddled in a group. Keira joined them and Allie soon afterward decided to fit herself in with them. Allie wasn't big on huge open displays of emotions besides anger, but she couldn't hold back this time. A stray tear fell down her face and she hugged Keira just to feel more comfortable.

Cameron was balling her eyes out. She had gone through at least a box of tissues within the past half an hour and she was still going. She went periodically through moments of heavy sobbing then soft sniffling like she was going to stop and then back to crying loudly. Cameron was always emotional and it was just in her nature. Suddenly the soft sniffles turned into loud sobs again. Chase came over to her and wrapped his arms around her. Cameron cried into his shirt, completely soaking it with her tears, but Chase didn't mind. Keira wandered back over to Jak and he held her close.

Cuddy was gently crying. She made tiny sniffles and gently dabbed a tissue to her eyes. She was supposed to be a dean of medicine not a babbling, crying woman that was acting like a five year old that was in trouble. It made her look weak, but no matter how hard she tried, she just couldn't stop it. House would rag on her forever for this. Cuddy felt two arms wrap around her and a face press into her hair. It was House. Maybe he wouldn't rag on her for crying like an idiot.

Foreman observed everyone. All of the women had tears in their eyes or they were crying hysterically (like Cameron) and a man had taken the position of holding in their emotions and taking a woman into their arms to make them feel better. But no one could really feel better at this point. Foreman observed the little "couples". There was House and Cuddy, Chase and Cameron, and Jak and Keira. '_Interesting…what might this show?' _Foreman couldn't help but wonder.

Foreman felt a little outcasted. He was probably the only one that didn't really feel sad. He didn't necessarily like Stacy to begin with. He wasn't even sure why he was here. But then again, he didn't want to look like a complete ass for not showing up any way… What does it matter? All he could hope was that Stacy was in a better place and that her pain was forever relieved.

Allie suddenly clung onto Foreman. Well, there was no one else available. And Ashelin didn't look like she wanted anyone to touch her at all, she just stood there quietly. '_Well, this is awkward…'_ was all that Foreman could think.

Everyone was together. They were in a group just standing there. The soft, green grass, underneath their feet and the bright sun high in the sky. There was one thing in common for them though, not just that they all felt some sort of sad (except Foreman), but they all wore black. This is no ordinary Haven City Teaching Hospital scene. There is no whiteboard, no dying patients, no tests to be done, no hospital in sight, none of that.

"_Mark Warner. Loving, devoted husband" _That was what part of the headstone read. But that wasn't really what had everyone in tears; it was the headstone next to his that had cast a blanket of sorrow over member of HCTH. It read, "_Stacy Warner. Loved and respected friend and powerful force of Haven City Teaching Hospital. She shall be forever remembered by all of the hearts that she touched." _

Not only was her husband dead, but Stacy too had died. She couldn't have been saved anyway. Her systems failed and shut down one by one. But there is one last thing that she said that will linger in the mind of Gregory House forever, "I'm sorry for everything and you didn't fail, you never fail." Those were the last things that she said, but she managed to mouth, "See you on the other side." But House didn't believe that.

Chase said a silent prayer as everyone gathered themselves to leave the gravesite. No one would ever forget Stacy and all of the problems and solutions that she brought to the hospital. In the back of House mind something echoed. Although she is sorry and he still does care, he can never forgive her for all of the pain that she put him through. Never.

In her mind, Cuddy was smiling. Stacy was a good friend and she is sad that she is gone, but she was in the way. Now she has her chance.

_The ultimate end: death. But to some it is only the beginning of a journey that will last forever. And Stacy's journey has just begun. _

**_Ok, so that was chapter 9 "Rebirth". Yeah, it was a real short chapter, but I didn't want to spend too much time dwelling on Stacy's funeral. This was just a short chapter about all of the thoughts and happenings during the funeral, but chapter 10 will kick things right back into gear. A seemingly normal case will turn into a wave of confusion and panic as a new disease is discovered. They need to figure a cure for it fast, especially when it begins to infect one of the team's doctors. _**

_**Please review and tell me who you favorite pairings are for this story. The more response I get, the more likely I'll make that the permanent pairing in the story!!**_


	10. Diagnosis for the Unknown

-1**_Chapter 10 "Diagnosis for the Unknown" is up and the action is back in full swing. As a quick recap, the hospital was recently under attack by metal heads forcing the hospital into a panic. House and his team were trapped on the first floor with them and praying they'd make it. With the aid of their recently cured patient Allie and Ashelin, they managed to survive the turmoil. The team in the whole mess found Stacy's husband dead and Stacy dying from metal head poisoning. Chase and Keira attempted to save her, but with her multiple system failure, she died in the company of House. They all attended her funeral and now are back in the swing of their normal days. _**

_**One month after Stacy's funeral. Current date: December 27 **_

House lazily walked into the hospital. It was one 'o clock in the afternoon. Figures, he was always late. Even though his scheduled work time was nine 'o clock in the morning. House made his way to the elevator and was abruptly stopped by someone calling after him.

"Hey!! Dr. House!!"

Usually House would move faster to get to the elevator because the case was usually Cuddy yelling at him to get into the clinic, but the voice was different. House stopped and turned around. "Oh, great. It's you…" House began to continue his progression to the elevator, but was stopped when the woman ran in front of him.

"Clinic now." She demanded.

House rolled his eyes. "Your not my boss. Get out of my way. Don't you have something better to do with yourself? Steal stuff, beat people up, something? Oh, what's you name again… Allen."

"It's Allie, you loser. And Cuddy sent me here to send you to the clinic."

"Wow, we cure you, and you come to get a job at the hospital. Can you imagine what it would be like if all of my patients did that?" House gave her a moment to think about that. "The hospital would be filled with morons, that kill people instead of save them. Now move."

"Not until you get to the clinic." Allie seemed to be getting impatient. "Look, I'm the new hospital security guard, I'll use force if I have to."

House laughed, "I guess even you have to start somewhere." House seemed to take pleasure in insulting her new job. "And I'm a doctor. I take care of patients. So, now I'm going to my office. You know, have lives to save."

"Great, doctor. Here's a patient file. Exam room one. You can start saving lives down in the clinic. After all, 'you have to start somewhere'." Allie walked away with a huge grin on her face.

House turned and went to the clinic.

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"Where is House?" Keira said with an annoyed tone. "I'm bored."

"Probably sleeping." Cameron yawned upon mentioning sleep.

Chase and Foreman broke into a smile and started laughing when Cameron mentioned sleeping. (Implied dirty joke). "That's immature." Keira said. "Let's just take our lunch break."

"House might be here soon, he could be in the clinic." Cameron was trying to seem optimistic.

"House and Clinic don't mix. Have fun waiting for him." Foreman said, exiting the room.

Keira and Chase shrugged their shoulders and left. Cameron sat there for a minute. "I guess I'm going, too."

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House barged into the clinic and stared at the patient. She looked complete normal. "What's wrong with you?"

The patient had a small build and a very light complexion. She had blonde hair and sparkling blue eyes. "I have this really strange rash---"

House stopped her. "If it's a 'rash' in the nether-regions, I'll get a consult and they can help you. I don't check seeping gonorrhea or postulating blisters this close to my lunch break. Umm…" House skimmed the patient file for her name. "Tess."

"No," She giggled at his sarcastic remark.

House watched her giggle turn into a laugh. '_Great, another genius.'_ Yes, even House's thoughts are sarcastic.

After Tess stopped laughing, she managed to turn her right arm around to the other side, the rash was on her arm. House pulled on some gloves to examine it. It was slightly purplish deep inside, with a whitish and reddish color as well to it more along the surface. It was elevated off her normal skin level and appeared to be rather scaly.

"Congratulations, you have psoriasis." House concluded, pulling his gloves off and tossing them into the trash.

Tess's voice grew worried. "What's that? Dr…"

"House. Nothing deadly. It could be hereditary, but there is no known cause. Involves exactly what your skin looks like. Go to the store and buy lots of extreme moisture lotions and I'll give you a steroidal cream to help control this better. If it comes back, which it will, and it's bad, come into the clinic." House pulled a cream out of the cabinet and gave it to her, she immediately rubbed it into her skin.

"Thanks…" Tess said, but she realized that House was gone.

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House once again tried to make his way to the elevator and was stopped…again. "Dr. House… something is wrong…"

House turned around and faced his patient that just came from the clinic. Tess's so-called psoriasis was seeping a purplish-bluish fluid and it was starting to creep up her legs. "Now that's not psoriasis. Nurse!" House called. "Clean up on aisle seven! Bandage her arms, legs, and do something to stop that from spreading. Looks like I've got a case."

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The team managed to finish their lunch break and Keira decided that instead of waiting for House to show up, she'd complete her clinic duty for the day. Now most people are usually relieved when the holidays were over, but not in the hospital. The holiday fun continued even when the holidays were over. It is true that people are stupid, and that they do stupid things, but during the holidays people were as stupid as they got. For example, these are some _normal situations _of "holiday hell" in the clinic.

Keira sat down. Her first patient appeared to be fine, but they wouldn't sit down and they seemed to shift uncomfortably. Keira scanned the file quickly and looked up, "You can sit down you know, Mr. Williams."

"I can't."

"Why not?" Keira knew that this had to be something ridiculous.

"I was helping to put away all of the Hanukkah decorations with my family. I got into the fight with my brother and we started fighting physical and…umm…" Her patients pale face turned bright red.

"What?"

"He took the menorah and shoved one of the candles up my ass. It really hurts and I really do have to use the bathroom. Could you take it out?"

Keira grabbed a pair of gloves, "You have got to be kidding me…"

(Here's another clinic example of the wrath the holidays bring.)

Keira stepped into exam room two and was immediately told the problem. "My 5 year old son has a bulb from a Christmas tree stuck up his nose." Figures that the mother of her son had a very annoyed and impatient tone. "I tried to pull it out…but it got even more stuck."

Keira was becoming tired of all of these holiday injuries. She was the tenth person to come in out of eleven people to have some holiday object causing them pain. So far Keira had seen a woman who came in for Rogaine because she was taking the lights off of her tree and she was electrocuted and burned all of her hair off. A kid with a candy cane piece stuck in their throat. A man with a piece of a Christmas tree literally stuck underneath the skin in his arm. A kid who had eaten an ornament, which she had to sent to an OR to have it removed, and many more. "I'll get it out…" Keira sounded exasperated.

As she was grabbing a pair of tweezers, her beeper went off. She looked at it and it appeared that House had a case that was of immediate purpose to them. "Hold on, let me call you a consult. I have to go." Keira called for a covering doctor and prepared to go, when the mother stopped her.

"My son has a light bulb stuck in his nose and you're leaving?! He can't wait!!"

Keira was halfway out of the door, when she left the woman with this, "He wouldn't be here right now if you were paying attention to your child."

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Keira stepped into their Diagnostic meeting room and House had apparently scribbled the symptoms on the board. Still facing the board, he asked, "Differential diagnosis for a psoriasis like skin condition that is oozing and is spreading."

Umm…psoriasis?" Keira sat down.

"It's not." House said. "When I said spreading, I meant spreading all over her extremities in…I'd say…two minutes."

"What color was the oozing?" Cameron asked.

"Purplish."

Chase made a face, "That makes no diagnostic sense. Or logical sense for that matter. No disease at all spreads that fast and oozes purple. Even a different strain of a more common disease would do that. The body can't create a purple fluid. Clear, yellow, red, and white, but no purple."

The room fell silent and everyone seemed to slip into deep thought. Keira suddenly jumped up. "Chase is right. The body can't create a purple substance, but another body can. And there is only one other body in the world that can do that."

Foreman shook his head, "Metal heads? There is no metal head disease in the world that does what it's doing to our patient. Cuts and scrapes just become infected or it instantly kills the person. Even pure exposure to touching Dark Eco wouldn't create a mutation."

"No, no, no." Keira said waving her hands in the same gesture. "What if she accidentally ingested it? Think about it. Dark Eco is like alcohol, the body doesn't digest it, it gets absorbed into the bloodstream. Once in the bloodstream, it flows throughout the body like alcohol. But there is one big difference between alcohol and Dark Eco. Our bodies sent out lymphocytes (white blood cells) to attack Dark Eco that is recognized as a foreign substance. Dark Eco is sticky and attaches to the lymphocytes. When the lymphatic system sends out the lymphocytes to attack another disease the dark eco releases from the lymphocyte and attacks the tissue and mutates it."

House stared at the perplexed team, "What? Is Keira's medical lingo too much for you? And you call yourselves doctors?" House sighed impatiently. "Let me water that down for you. The body attacks the Dark Eco and the Dark Eco being so intelligent attaches itself to the white blood cell. The white blood cell thinks that it killed the Dark Eco, but all that the Dark Eco did was disguise itself and it's living off the white blood cell. When the white blood cell goes to attack another disease, the Dark Eco attaches itself to the tissues and mutates them, and the body never knows. See, people are stupid, even down to their blood cells."

Cameron still wasn't convinced, "But Dark Eco kills tissue. It wouldn't just mutate the tissue, but it would kill it. Her body should be rotting, not mutating."

Wow, Cameron would rather see rotting flesh!!" House yelled sarcastically, which prompted disgusted looks from passer-bys in the hallway. "Next time I have a guy with gang green in the clinic I'll call you for a consult." House paused. "Come on, is Keira the only intelligent doctor I've hired?! How can you not understand this?! Thank Cuddy for hiring her because our patient would be dead right now if Keira wasn't here. Keira explain why her tissue isn't rotting to these morons that call themselves doctors."

Keira took pride in House's complement to her, she wasn't going to let him down. "Dark Eco that runs through the veins of a metal head has white blood cells, too. A metal head somehow contaminated her and she managed to pick up Dark Eco. But the reason that it isn't rotting her flesh is because what if the metal head was sick? If it's sick it will have a high level of white blood cells in the Eco. When she ingested the Dark Eco because of it's high level of white blood cells, those cells are actually preventing her tissues from rotting, only allowing her tissue to mutate."

Everyone nodded in understanding. Surely this was a confusing case and this would have to be reported to the CDC as a new disease, although very rare apparently. Since Cameron and Keira dealt with a specialty in Immunology, they seemed to leave poor Intensivist Chase and Neurologist Foreman in the dust. So they just sat back and observed. Cameron did all of the 'math' in her head.

"Then she'll need a transplant for all of the infected tissues and a bone marrow transplant to prevent further spreading of the virus. We can't get that right now, Cuddy won't allow that. She'll give us a speech about a long transplant waiting list and malpractice suits if House does anything radical."

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"House! Do I have to give you a speech about a long transplant waiting list and malpractice suits for doing anything radical? Again?" Cuddy seemed fumed about this and stared angrily at House and ignored Keira who came to back House up.

"It's an emergency, Cuddy. Please." Keira pleaded.

"And it's an emergency for those that are dying, too. The answer is no."

"Oh, come on! Cuddy, you know that I'm right." House was always up for a mind game. He liked to dig at Cuddy's conscience.

"It doesn't matter if I think your right. I'm going by protocol. And you know that." Cuddy shuffled papers around on her desk.

"We have proof."

"No you don't, House."

"Damn, how'd you know? I figured that you'd go for that."

Keira figured that it was pointless to come down here anyway. Especially since she was being pushed into the background as House and Cuddy battled, completely ignoring the fact that she was there. "We are getting proof. Cameron is doing a biopsy on the affected tissue and the bone marrow. But if we get ahead now, we may be able to beat this disease."

"I want to see the biopsy results. Until then, you can wait. And if your in a real hurry, call the CDC and argue with them about their rules. Wait, what did some doctor with a cane once tell me…oh, you can't always get what you want."

House retorted with, "And what did a dean of medicine with big breasts tell me once…oh, and if you try sometime, you'll get what you need." House made a mental note. "Speaking of which, you're power suit seem to be getting tight around the middle…"

"I'm not pregnant."

"Yes, you are."

"No, I'm not."

"Yes, you are."

"No, I'm not!"

"Are too!"

"Are not!"

"Are too!"

"Are not!!"

"Are too!!"

"Are not!!!"

Keira just stood back, it was actually funny watching two people who are somewhere in their forties, arguing like five year olds. Keira heard her phone ring and she answered it as Cuddy and House continued to argue. Keira hung up her phone. "House, we may have to call the CDC."

He stopped fighting and Cuddy slouched in her chair, "Look, it the biopsy was negative we can stay her and fight with Cuddy all day, she'll fold eventually."

"Cameron is sick with the exact same symptoms."

House turned to Cuddy, "Now can we have the transplants?"

Cuddy picked up her phone, "I'll alert the CDC."

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_**Keira, M.D. Medical Terminology Guide :**** It'll cure even the most confused of readers! **_

_**Psoriasis: ****Affects about 2 percent of the population and is a chronic skin condition that is characterized by itchy, scaly red patches on the skin with silvery shedding. Usually develops on elbows, forearms, knees, scalp. Cause is unknown, but may be hereditary. Arthritis may accompany it and it can become extremely severe. **_

_**Lymphocytes: ****White Blood Cells **_

_**Lymphatic System: ****System of vessels that convey water, proteins, etc. Also at points, holds the lymph nodes which act as filters for foreign particles and create lymphocytes to fight foreign antibodies. **_

_**Bone Marrow: ****Tissue contained within the bones internal cavities. **_

_**Injuries During the Holidays: ****The holiday season isn't really always the most wonderful time of the year. More people go into hospitals with holiday related injuries or injuries in general during this time of the year. And Psychiatric Hospitals admit the most patients during this time of year. **_

_**CDC: ****The Center for Disease Control**_

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_**In Chapter 11, House and the team have one doctor down as Cameron falls ill with the same disease. Proving that this disease is highly infectious, Cuddy forces them into an isolation chamber to prevent further spreading of the disease, and won't allow anyone near them until the CDC arrives. How can you treat a patient that you can't go near? Please Review!!! **_

_**IMPORTANT NOTICES: ****Do you have a favorite "House-ism" that House has said in this story so far or a funny conversation that you thought was just too much. Include you favorite things said in the story so far in your review or in a private message. They will be included in the "House-ism Hall of Fame" for the Keira, M.D. forum. ****ALSO: Are you interested in doing your own off branch for the "M.D." series. Think Daxter deserves his own story of what happens with him during Keira, M.D. or anyone for that matter? Check out the Keira, M.D. forum if your interested and for details. **_


	11. Bending the Rules

-1"HEY YOU!!!!" Allie went into a full blown run after someone in the clinic. Upon seeing her heading right towards him, the man ran too. Allie bent her knees slightly and sent herself flying after him. She managed to grab his shirt and pull him down to the ground. "AHA!!! I saw you trying to steal this candy cane from Nurse Brenda's station!!! HAND IT OVER!!!"

The man shakily handed it back to her and slowly got up. Instead of punching her like most people would have over a lousy candy cane, he ran off crying. Allie didn't care one bit, happily she handed the candy cane back to Nurse Brenda, the head nurse of the clinic. Nurse Brenda sighed and snatched the candy cane from Allie, "Allie, look, I know that you are new at this, but the candy canes are supposed to be for the people in the clinic. Did you actually think that I'd leave them there to stare at?" Nurse Brenda watched a bunch of nurses start running in the same direction that the man that Allie scared away. "Oh, and that man also has an issue with seizures. He was only here to get his medication. Congratulations, you just scared the man into a seizure!"

In Cuddy's office House and Cuddy were staring out the glass doors staring at the commotion. Cuddy brought a hand to her forehead and shook her head. "I can't believe that she just scared a man into a seizure. This is going to be the biggest lawsuit the hospital has seen."

"I told you," House said. "That this is why we don't hire ex-patients. The hospital is filled with morons as it is, why make it worse?" House paused. "I feel like having a bagel."

A nurse came into Cuddy's office. She was small, obviously new. She looked so timid and would run in an instant if someone shouted 'boo'. "Umm…Dr. Cuddy? I'm sorry to bother you, but umm…you saw the man that just had a seizure because security scared him, right?"

Cuddy nodded, "Yes, is he alright?"

"Yeah, about that…he fell and his seizure was bad, I mean really bad, so bad that he slipped into a coma."

"You have got to be kidding me…" Cuddy watched some paramedics wheel a stretcher into the clinic, leaving a few frightened faces on some of the patients that were waiting in the lobby. "Allie, scared the guy into a coma, too?!"

"In general, you could put it that way." The nurse was turning to leave. As she left House shouted, "BOO!!!"

"AHH!!!" The timid nurse ducked with her hands over her head. Looking up, she saw the look of pure amusement on House's face. Her face glowed bright red and she inched her way out of the office.

"House, that was wrong!!"

House just shrugged his shoulders, "Well, judging that the man is now in a coma, looks like you don't have to worry about that lawsuit…"

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Keira walked down the hall, heading towards the isolation rooms. Otherwise known as the "clean rooms". These rooms are the most sterile rooms you'll ever see. Nothing is allowed in without being completely sanitized, there are special filters on the vents, and no one is allowed in without putting on a special suit to prevent spreading of germs.

Keira was reading Cameron's file as she walked. Chase was reading Tess's file and Foreman looked over their shoulders to compare their files. "I think that we should take their SED rate." Keira said. "I mean, dark eco has to affect it, right?"

Foreman shook his head, "I'd think that we should do a Toxicology screen"

"Test for drugs?" Chase said with a bit of incredulity. "Why even bother?"

"Dark eco has to elevate something on that test, give us an abnormal reading, something."

"Better yet, how about a CHEM-7? It'll give us a chance to look at the blood, break it down a bit. Seems to be our best bet right now."

Keira nodded. "Yeah, Chase has a good idea, but along with that we should do a CBC. The CHEM-7 will let us look at the blood without the red and white cells and platelets, but if we do that a CBC test will allow us to take a closer look at the red and white blood cells and platelets. We can cover the entire spectrum."

Foreman added, "We should also biopsy the affected tissues."

Chase, Foreman, and Keira went to enter the room where Cameron and Tess were but they were stopped by a nurse. "I'm sorry, you can't go in there."

"We are their doctors. Yes, we can ." Keira said a bit indignantly.

"Dr. Cuddy said that their room is off limits to anyone until the CDC arrives. I'll have to ask you to leave."

They all glanced at each other and just decided to leave.

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Foreman followed by Keira and Chase stormed into Cuddy's office. Foreman stood in front of Cuddy's desk and slammed his hands on her desk to get her attention. "You gave authorization for us to not be allowed to see our patients!! We are their doctors!!"

"Stop yelling…" Cuddy sounded annoyed. "And Cameron is a doctor if you've forgotten. The CDC said that no one is to go near them until they arrive."

House sprung up, "When did this happen?" House turned to Cuddy. "You didn't tell me?! No tests, no examinations, what the hell do you expect us to do?!"

Cuddy stood, "THIS ISN"T MY FUCKING FAULT!! Blame the CDC for their protocol, but nothing is going to happen if you just stand there and yell at me. What do you want me to do, paint it on the walls saying that it's all my fault?!! When it's not, if I need to point that out!! I'm not changing my mind, I can't. Do you want the number to the CDC?!! You can have it!!"

House team retreated and House stepped forward. "We need to do these tests. This is going to be deadly and you know that."

"What can I do? Give you clearance for the test. I can't And if you even try anything you'll have your medical license revoked. Do you want that? And your team will fall along with you. Not a single one of you can touch either of them. Understand?" Cuddy glared at each of them, her eyes seemed to pierce their souls.

"And when will the CDC arrive? Next week? They'll be dead by then." House continued his banter. "If they die realize that this is all of your fault because you wouldn't let us do a few simple noninvasive tests."

"House, get out. All of you, get out now. I'll call the CDC again, but that is the best that I can do."

"Fine."

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House went into a clinic room and pulled out what seemed to be some testing supplies. Keira stared quizzically at him, "What are you doing?"

House tossed some supplies at her, "If we can't do the tests ourselves, then Cameron will do them for us. Let's go."

Everyone made it up to the forth floor with their arms filled with supplies, which prompted looks from many passing doctors and nurses. Someone was going to run to Cuddy, it was just an instinctual feeling, but someone probably would. They had to hurry. House opened a small door that protruded from the glass and put all of the supplies inside of it. Cameron approached the window. "What is all of this?" Cameron and Tess looked fine, except for the skin mutations..

"How has everything been?" House asked.

"Fine, everything has been stabilized. Nothing has changed and the steroids have slowed the spread of this thing drastically. We are actually doing well. What is all of this stuff?"

"Testing supplies." Keira answered. "Cuddy won't let us near you or Tess until the CDC arrives. We need you to get the samples for us so we can get the results as fast as we can. We are going to need two blood samples from each of you for a CHEM-7 and CBC and we need you to also get a sample of the infected tissue for a biopsy."

Cameron had a confused look on her face, "Should we even be doing this? If the CDC doesn't--"

"Do you want to be cured or die from this?" House said carelessly.

Cameron grabbed the testing supplies and tied a band around her arm making her veins prominent, she took needle and pushed it into a vein and drew the blood out. She took a second needle and did the same. Cameron then grabbed a needle filled with an anesthetic and injected in into the affected tissues when had turned completely purple and almost seemed to be scaling. She pushed in the biopsy needle and pulled out a sample. After bandaging herself up she placed the samples in the window for House.

Cameron woke Tess up and explained the tests. She nodded eagerly to the idea and smiled. Just as Cameron was going to take the first blood sample something distracted her. Cuddy came yelling down the hall. "Uh oh…" Was all that House said. Cuddy banged her fist on the glass (well, it's not real glass), "HEY!!! CAMERON, DON'T YOU DARE!!!"

House retorted with, "Cameron, take the samples."

"Don't listen to House, he's a moron."

Cameron was still taking the samples, but she managed to say to Cuddy, "Then how does he save lives?"

House smiled and pointed a finger at Cuddy, "Boo-yah!!"

"Cameron, you are going against the CDC policy! You can be fired for this!!"

Cameron smiled, she was working on the second sample. "I'm not a doctor right now. I'm just a normal patient. Can't be fired for that."

"Damn, she's right…" Cuddy paced around.

Cameron was getting ready to do the biopsy and Cuddy sprinted towards the door, "I'm going to stop her."

House grabbed Cuddy's arm, "No, remember, no one can even go near the patients. Said so yourself. You don't want to go breaking protocol now, right?"

Cameron completed the biopsy and handed the samples through the window to House. "Go test these." He instructed to the team and they went.

Cuddy just sighed, now realizing that she lost. Cameron was carefully examining Tess's arm. "What's wrong?" House asked.

"Her arm…" Cameron sounded shocked and scared. "her nails are pointing into these…claws…her arm is becoming more muscular…it's like her genes are mutating and she's becoming something else."

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_**Yeah, it's a bit of a short chapter. I love cliffhangers. But before the next chapter preview here's the Keira, M.D. medical guide. **_

_**Keira, M.D. Medical Terminology Guide: ****Cure for the Confusion **_

_**SED Rate: ****Erythrocyte Sedimentation Rate measures how fast erythrocytes, red blood cells, settle in uncoagulated blood. Indicates the presence of inflammation, cancer, and other diseases. **_

_**Toxicology Screen: ****Or a "tox" screen tests for toxins in the body, usually used to test for drugs, but also has other purposes. **_

_**CHEM-7****: Seven different tests that look at the chemistry of a sample of blood serum, the part without red and white blood cells and platelets. Shows levels of BUN (blood urea nitrogen), chloride, carbon dioxide, creatinine, glucose, sodium, potassium, and in this story the presence of dark eco. **_

_**CBC****: Complete Blood Count does the opposite of a CHEM-7, it looks at the red and white cells and also the platelets, not the blood serum. Used to detect many diseases including types of cancer and severe infections. **_

_**Biopsy****: The taking a sample and testing it for a disease. Opposite of an autopsy, because it's used on a living person. **_

_**In the next chapter, the disease begins to rapidly progress and the CDC still hasn't arrived. Will Cuddy find it in herself to risk her job to save Tess and Cameron or will House and the team make the risk? **_


	12. Cause and Effect

"We need a solution and fast." Keira stated matter-of-factly. She was seated in the lobby's waiting room along with the rest of the team. Except for House who just had to be different and stand. Others waiting in the lobby stared curiously at the doctors, wondering what they were doing. Keira sighed, "We can't just sit there and wait for the CDC to arrive. I'll take too long and by then it will be too late."

Foreman nodded in agreement, "Keira is right. This is progressing too rapidly. The CDC isn't here and it could take at the most a week to get here. They may not even make it until tonight. Tess is getting bad."

House paced around impatiently. Waiting for test results was a pain. Even though their case was bumped up to the top of the testing list, it still took a while. And while time was ticking by, their patients were getting sicker and sicker. House glanced out of the corner of his eyes and saw a woman that was intently staring and listening to their conversation. In an annoyed huff House spat, "Hey, mind your own business!" He turned back to his team. "We need to do an MRI. But the lovely Cuddy, won't allow it. Any more brilliant ideas, Dr. Cuddy?"

The woman that was listening to their conversation stood and faced House. "Who the hell do you think that you were talking to, House?"

It was Ashelin. "You apparently." House hissed. "As you can tell we have a very important case to attend to and your help isn't needed."

"Ha." Ashelin laughed. "Your funny. Apparently it is needed considering the CDC isn't going to be arriving until tomorrow evening and possibly Wednesday morning."

Cuddy rubbed her temples nervously. "Damn it. I knew that this was going to happen."

"Then do something about it!" House yelled. "We can't let our patient or one of our own doctors to die! You have the power to make a choice. We are sitting here doing nothing while they get progressively worse and you still won't let us do anything about it? Make a choice Cuddy. So what who the CDC may fire? It'll either be your job or mine. Make up your mind." House walked off towards the lab.

The team lately seemed to follow House around like his shadow, so they all stood to follow. Keira turned to Cuddy, "He's right and you know it." Chase and Foreman nodded along with her statement. Keira turned her head to see the nurse gesturing to them. "Hey, the results are ready!" They literally ran to get them.

Cuddy sat there contemplating what to do next. It was a hard choice. Ashelin stood before her. Cuddy stared up at her, "I do know that he's right. What House said and the way that he said it. It just…it…moved me. It proved that he does have a caring bone in his body."

Ashelin smiled slightly. It was something that she didn't do very often anymore. "He does care. If you noticed, he discreetly cares for each member of his team like a parent cares for a child. When the child is sick or in danger, he has that parental instinct to protect them. He really does have a heart…somewhere. It's just lost in all of the mess. It's there though. And he did make a valid point that you should consider. As hard as it may seem to choose, you should consider which is most needed for the hospital: you or House?"

Cuddy stared at the ground. Today it seemed as if everyone had a moving thing to say. Every word was so powerful, etching away the line that no one would dare to cross. Cuddy thought for a moment, consumed in thought. Ashelin was ready to leave as Cuddy grabbed her arm. "If I do lose my job, will you be able to take over the hospital for me in my place?"

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Keira, Chase, and Foreman all stared at the test results, comparing the results. House was busy having a juvenile argument with a kid that was seated in the lobby about who knows what. "Look, the SED rate is WAY off. The platelets actually didn't settle at all, they are suspended in Tess's blood. That is so weird." Keira stared at the results long are hard. "Chase, how is Cameron's SED rate holding up?"

"Seems alright for now." He said. "They took an extra minute to settle though, so the disease must be progressing."

"Toxicology screen is clear." Foreman added.

"We need to put Tess on a blood thinner, fast!" Chase was already bolting down the hall toward the stairs. There was no time to wait for the elevator.

Keira and Foreman ran at full speed to catch up to him. "What's going on?" They huffed as Chase rounded the corner.

Her CHEM-7 showed that her blood is becoming way too thick, it can't circulate fast enough. She'll go into respiratory failure, then cardiac failure, and then everything else will fall apart! She needs a thinner fast!" Chase stopped dead in front of the isolation rooms where Tess and Cameron were.

Keira and Foreman stopped behind him. Tess and Cameron were gone. "Where are they?!"

Keira whipped out her cell phone. "I'll call Cuddy." She waited a moment.

"Dr. Lisa Cuddy." She answered on the other line.

"Cuddy, it's Keira. Where are Tess and Cameron?" Keira was nervously pacing around.

"I'm doing an MRI for you guys. Meet me down there." –click-

Keira placed her phone back in the pocket of her lab coat. "Let's go." She said. "Cuddy's doing and MRI."

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"Ashelin is to take over the hospital if the CDC tries to get rid of me for this." Cuddy said sadly. "It's a risk I had to take. There was no other way. I can now only pray that the CDC will be lenient in this case."

"The hospital needs you Cuddy…" House said.

"No." Cuddy replied firmly. "The hospital needs you, House. Not me. You save lives and I do paper work. The world needs you more that they need me."

"You'll have your medical license revoked…" House said.

"Doesn't matter. At least I'll have known that I did the right thing for once in my life."

"That is the most pathetic thing that I have ever heard." House stated. Cuddy knew he didn't really mean that. He was just being stubborn. As he always is.

"What will happen to you if the CDC does find out?" Keira curiously asked.

Cuddy paused for a minute. "Well, I'll have broken protocol, so they'll charge me with assault for testing the patients when I was told not to. They'll call the police and they'll arrest me and then I'll have to go to court against the CDC and they'll attempt to fire me and revoke my medical license. Then that will be the end of that."

"Cuddy…" Keira said gently.

"It's ok." It was apparent that Cuddy wasn't happy with this. But it couldn't wait any longer. Cuddy stared out the glass windows and into the hall where she spotted someone who looked familiar. She had a long black coat and raven black hair that was cut very short. He eyes darted away from Cuddy, pretending to look elsewhere. "I think that she's been following me. I've seen her everywhere I've been all day…" Cuddy mumbled to herself.

"Look!" Foreman said. "Found it. MRI shows that the masses in her brain are clumps of dark eco. We have to get rid of it all, which will be extremely invasive. But necessary to save her."

"More than that." Chase added. "Her arm is necrotic. We need to start treatment right away. Or we may have to amputate it."

"Let's go." House said.

"Good luck." Cuddy said to them as they left. Hopefully that was all that will be needed for them.

When they left, that woman who had been standing there and Cuddy had claimed to have seen frequently during the day came into the room. "Dr. Lisa Cuddy?"

Cuddy turned around, "Yes?"

"My name is Dr. Miranda Deanna. I'm from the CDC. I'm also the CDC private investigator. I'm afraid that we have a problem."

Cuddy stared in shock. He shock soon drained to anger. "You mean to tell me that the CDC has been here all along and you haven't done anything for my patients?!! What the hell is going on?!!"

The woman seemed almost emotionless. "You have broken protocol, Dr. Cuddy…"

"I don't care at this point! You were here and did nothing?! My patients could have died!! And you stood there in the shadows?!" Cuddy was furious. (Hey, wouldn't you be, too?)

"I do not appreciate your tone. Unfortunately, Dr. Cuddy, I'm going to ask you to turn around and put your hands behind your head. You are under arrest for breaking CDC protocol and patient assault among other charges."

Cuddy did as instructed. She wasn't going to fight this, but she was going to need a damn good defense to get her out of this one.

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**_The pain of cliffhangers, I know. I hope this was a good surprise at the end, but trust me things are going to be getting rocky for everyone. Over the next couple of chapters, with Cuddy battling the CDC can Ashelin take on the job of running a hospital? Her job isn't as easy as it looks… Will Tess and Cameron be cured or is the treatment going to spark a new problem? Dark eco is dangerous and unpredictable, and everyone is about to learn just that. And will House rush to the defense of Cuddy during her trial, or will he just create a problem for himself? All of that and a lot more coming in the future chapters! _**

_**PLEASE, pretty PLEASE review!! I need your input!! Without it, I have no inspiration! And thanks as always to my usual reviewers, you guys are great!!!**_


	13. Trials and Tribulations

**_Chapter 13: Trials and Tribulations is up! Can Cuddy make it out of this with her job still intact and what may the CDC be hiding that could jeopardize the lives of everyone in Haven City? But uncovering the truth can only bring consequences. Warning: some descriptive intimate material (its not that bad, but still.) in this chapter! Oh, and one note: _**

_**I do not respect flames, nor do I want them. If you hate my story, good for you, but keep the comments to yourself. Here's how you do that for those who can't comprehend the idea: One, stop reading it. Two, hit the back button located in your toolbar. Three: Suck it up and don't bother thinking about reviewing. Let it be and move on. You won't die, trust me. Not everyone wants to hear your opinion. I know you need the attention, but you'll be fine. Go flame someone who wants to be flamed or accepts them. You'll feel better. Ok… now that that's done, on to the story. **_

Tess and Cameron sat on a hospital bed together. They were still in the clean room and luckily, before the MRI, Cuddy gave Tess the blood thinner that Chase was panicking about. She said that her intuition told her it may be an intelligent idea and it was. Since no one, still, was allowed to go near Tess and Cameron (except Cuddy who broke the rules), Cameron took a call from House explaining what the treatments entailed, which would take place soon after they had clearance.

"Invasive? What does that mean?" Tess asked quizzically as she stared blankly at Cameron.

Cameron sighed gently. Not out of annoyance, but in worry and sadness. This was typical of Cameron's bleeding heart. "It means that it's…" A pause. "…potentially deadly. Especially for someone as hemodynamicly compromised as you are. You have to have surgery in the brain, spinal cord, bone marrow transplant, transfusions…"

The list of surgeries just seemed to get longer. Tess, on top of that, wasn't looking so well. She was very pale and her infected arm was fully casted. Her eyelids were droopy and her general feel of sickness was characteristic of someone anemic. She need neurosurgery to remove the dark eco masses developing in her brain, spinal surgery to remove the masses developing in her spine, a bone marrow transplant so she could develop white cells again so she could fight off infections, transfusions to clean out the blood…and each procedure was deadly.

"Is it really necessary?" Tess asked nervously.

"I'm afraid so." Cameron gave her a light touch on the arm. "If we don't do these, you'll be dead by tonight for sure. But you have to trust us, we have the best doctors on your case. You're in good hands."

Tess sucked in a deep breath, "Ok, then. Let's do it." She stopped for a second. "But what about you? What treatments will they give you?"

Cameron smiled to see how much Tess was worried about her. She has such a good heart, Cameron thought. "Well, I'll just have a transfusion and treatment with some sort of antibiotics, since my case isn't as far developed as yours. Don't worry about me. Let's get you better first."

Tess smiled a little, but then it melted away to a frown. "How long until I start all of these treatments?"

"Soon." Or at least I hope that's the case, Cameron mumbled to herself.

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It looked like the normal run-of-the-mill day in the Diagnostic Conference Room, but it was far from normal at all. Everyone anxiously awaited Cuddy to come with clearance from the CDC for the treatment to be administered to Tess and Cameron. House was typically sitting in his office ignoring the world with a video game. Chase tensely gnawed on a pencil, while attempting to fill in a crossword puzzle, which was a futile attempt considering it was blank, Foreman was daydreaming, and Keira was trying to focus on an interesting article on Dark Eco and its relation to medicine in the Haven City Journal of Medicine.

The door opened and everyone seemed to drop what they were doing expecting to see Cuddy, instead it was Ashelin. House instantly jumped out of the chair in his office and headed towards Ashelin. "Where's Cuddy? Let me guess, up late last night drinking?"

"She's been arrested." Ashelin replied neutrally.

"What?!" A cry out in unison.

"The CDC had a hidden private investigator watching us the whole time. They were just waiting for us to screw up."

Keira jumped up, with incredulity in her voice. "They can't do that! They should have been helping us, not working against us!"

"Where is she?" House demanded.

"Don't get angry with me." Ashelin warned. "She's getting ready to appear in court, which apparently is pointless because they'll just charge her of assault with intention to harm or kill anyway."

House was already out the door, Ashelin yelled after him. How could a crippled man move so fast, she pondered for a moment. "Where are you going?!"

House stopped and paused, "Why should I tell you?" And he kept going.

"He is so like a child!!" Ashelin yelled. She sighed angrily. "For today, I'm sending all of you to the trial to act as Cuddy's witnesses. I can't go since I'm now the interim Dean of Medicine, so all of you will. The trial doesn't start for another hour, so you all should get going now."

"What about the treatments?" Chase asked.

"Prep Tess for surgery. Tell Cameron we're good to go. She can handle everything while you are gone. Remember, she is still a doctor and can hold her own. And be sure to obtain a witness statement from Tess and Cameron before you go."

Foreman stopped, "Hypothetically speaking, what happens if we don't bring Cuddy back?"

"Then don't come back."

"You have actually made friends with her, haven't you?" Foreman couldn't hold down the small laugh that escaped.

Ashelin turned her back to him, "I've lost one good friend already. I don't wan to lose the other." Vulnerability, the ultimate weakness has now become Ashelin ultimate strength.

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"I want to go with you." Cameron said firmly.

"Sorry," Chase smiled apologetically. "We need you here and you need your rest."

"I am part of why Cuddy is in this mess. I need to go."

"Don't push yourself." Chase insisted. "Rest. You need it. We can handle this ourselves. You do trust us, don't you?"

"Of course I do, Chase. I just need to be there, I have to be there." Cameron put on her sad puppy dog eyes and was practically pleading with him.

"Your place is here." Chase said calmly.

"So is yours." She retorted.

"Hey, this wasn't my idea." Chase laughed a little. He needed that. "Just hang tight, hopefully we'll be back soon."

Chase turned to leave and Cameron grabbed his sleeve and jerked him back. Chase spun around to face her. "What?" Cameron gently put her hands on his warm face and pulled him down a little so he was just inches away from her lips. Chase stared into her eyes, captivated by their beauty. Cameron pressed her lips against his, it was gentle at first. A small kiss that soon exploded into a fireworks display. Cameron bit at his lower lip, begging for entry and Chase willingly opened his hungry mouth to her and they demandingly explored.

What am I doing? Chase thought to himself as his hands traveled up her body. I shouldn't be doing this. I shouldn't, and Cameron rooted the kiss even deeper. But it feels so right. I have to let go, he didn't. I have to go, he couldn't. Chase managed to pull himself out of his thoughts and he pulled away from Cameron. Instantly, he missed her warmth. He took a moment to catch his breath and regain his composure. He was red in the face when he came to the conclusion of what he was doing when the gravity of it hit him. "I'll see you later." was all he could manage before leaving.

Cameron smiled lustfully, "Be careful."

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The team was already on their way out of the hospital when a familiar voice called after them. "Hey, you, you, and you! Where do you think your going?". The all too familiar cane shaped object jabbed Foreman in the stomach.

"Courthouse." Foreman answered after swatting House's cane out of his way.

"We are Cuddy's witnesses!" Keira said joyfully. They stared at her awkward optimism. "Hey, someone's got to keep positive. We can't look like doom and gloom all day."

House looked around. "Where's Cameron?"

"She's staying here. She's keeping an eye out for Tess and herself." Chase answered all too quickly.

House stared long and hard at Chase. "What happened to your lip?"

Damn, Cameron let marks… Chase yelled to himself. "Umm…I…got hit by a…door. Some paramedics flung the door open and I got hit." I hope that works.

Keira chose to change the subject when she noticed House letting the comment sink in. "Are you coming, too, House?"

In the distance a threat could be heard like the thunderous sound of…well…thunder. "House!! When I find you, you will be doing extra clinic duty!!! Do you hear me! I know you can!!" It was Ashelin and her harmonious threat that rang through the lobby like Cuddy's voice did when she was looking for him.

"Uh, yeah, let's go." House ushered his team quickly out of the door.

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Deciding that she couldn't find House, Ashelin settled in Cuddy's office. Since she was now the interim Dean of Medicine, she might as well get cracking at the work. Sitting herself in Cuddy's black leather chair she could feel that it was worn. It even had its own nestled indents where Cuddy sat. She looked at the chair and noticed various nail markings and scratches throughout the chair. I don't want to know what those are from, Ashelin thought to herself blocking out all possible speculation from her mind.

Looking at the stacks of paperwork, she saw a note from Cuddy. Apparently Cuddy was expecting this to happen. The note directed Ashelin on which pieces of paperwork needed corresponding phone calls and which needed to be just signed and a complete list of meeting for the next month, which totaled twenty plus meetings to attend.

Ashelin spent the next few hours on the phone arguing and negotiating with various patients, lawyers, and medical firms. She okayed and denied doctor's paperwork about some necessary and other frivolous tests. She spoke with the hospital's lawyers on a countless number of occasions about malpractice suits that have been filed and even made the endeavor to go to speak with patients that wanted to be discharged against medical advice. And all of this was just in a few hours. One thing for sure was that Ashelin wasn't ready to be a Dean of Medicine and wasn't sure if she ever wanted to be one at all.

The only thought that crossed her mind was what was going on during that trial.

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"So you are telling me that Dr. Cuddy's refusal to follow CDC protocol has saved a patients life?" The stuffy, boring courtroom added no interest to the case. Even the judge looked completely bored. More or less it looked like he already had his mind made up about the whole thing and it surely wasn't the outcome that Cuddy was looking for.

"Of course! Why, you don't believe me?!" House argued against the CDC's prosecutor. He was being overly dramatic with his last statement and feigned incredulity.

"Our protocol is designed to protect patients from doctor's like Cuddy and you as well I'm sure." Now that was an object able statement, but noting was done about it.

"Really?" House spat venomously. "Then why do so many die from the neglected cases that you are designed to protect patients from?"

"What are the odds of our carefully planned protocol failing? Statistics show that we save eight out of ten patients from doctor's mistakes, assault, and other potentially dangerous situations. I-"

House wasn't going to give this guy the time of day. "Eight out of ten means that you still screw-up. Now if you saved ten out of ten patients we wouldn't be having this discussion, now would we? Hell, we wouldn't even be here."

"We protect patients." It was a feeble attempt to play off House's inarguable statement.

"It seems as though you like to kill them, too"

"We have only lost a handful of patients with our flawless protocol…"

"A handful is still some. What, do those lives mean noting to you? They are just a handful? A meaningless statistic? What ever happened to 'First, do no harm'?"

Foreman leaned over and whispered to Chase and Keira. "This is the most unorganized courtroom I've ever seen. No one cares, not even the judge. At this rate, Cuddy doesn't stand a chance."

"The judge's eyes are closed." Chase observed.

"He fell asleep?!" Keira couldn't believe this. Was it even possible for a courtroom to be this messed up? Apparently in Haven City it was. "I think the CDC paid the judge off."

"We'll know as soon as the hearing takes place."

The judge shook himself awake. For a moment he seemed delirious, like he didn't even know where he was. "Order!" He shouted when he got some composure and remember that he was in the middle of a case and realized that House and a lawyer of the CDC were verbally assaulting one another.

"The hearing will take place tomorrow at two. Dr. Cuddy?"

"Yes?" She answered sullenly.

"You are to be here tomorrow. Until then you are suspended from any of your hospital duties. Understood?"

"Wait! But--"

"Understood, Dr. Cuddy?" The judge's voice was now menacing.

Cuddy lowered her eyes, "Yes, I do."

_**In chapter 14 "Seven Deadly Sins", the hearing takes place and Cuddy's fate is revealed. Will she be able to resume her duties as Dean of Medicine or can the CDC be broken down. Then we'll see how Tess does out of surgery. Cameron is doing well, but will Tess do the same? And some moves and advances will be made on the romance front for the doctors. The next chapter is based upon the seven deadly sins: lust, pride, gluttony, sloth, envy, wrath, and greed. Things are bound to get interesting… **_

_**PLEASE review! and my usuals are always thanked for all of their input, but I'd love to hear from the other readers. I know you're out there. And I'd love to hear from you!!**_


	14. Revelations

_**Wow... it has been a long time since I have updated this. Anyway, I'm not sure how long this fic will go on for. But I'm thinking about cutting this short even though I still had a lot of ideas left and moving on to pure House fanfiction. But I'll let the readers decide that. **_

_**Recap: Cameron and Tess are infected with a gene mutating virus that is slowly changing them. House, Keira, and the rest of the team must struggle to figure out what is wrong. Meanwhile, Cuddy is in big trouble with the CDC for breaking protocol. Facing possibly losing her job, she has turned it over to Ashelin. Things will only get worse before they get better. **_

"Ashelin?" She looked up. Part of Ashelin's body was obscured by paper work. It was another doctor. His id made it apparent that he was from the ER. "I'm sorry to bother you."

Ashelin sighed and shoved some of the work aside. "What do you want?"

"We have a mass amount of patients that are coming in via ambulance. There has been a huge building collapse that may be associated with metal heads. We are going to need spare physicians in the ER."

"What is the estimated time of arrival?" Ashelin continued to scribble some numbers on a notepad.

"Roughly ten to fifteen minutes." The doctor nervously fidgeted with his lab coat.

Ashelin smiled, "I know just who to send."

"Thank you." The doctor said before ducking out of the room quickly. Ashelin picked up the phone and dialed extension 153.

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Keira was sipping some coffee that Chase had attempted to brew. Let's just say that it tasted as good as a metal head's behind smelled. It wasn't very pleasant, but it was caffeine after all. House was doing his usual brooding in his office and Foreman was reviewing Cameron and Tess's medical records. Frustrated, Foreman threw the papers back on the table. "It just doesn't make sense."

"Maybe it's sexually transmitted." Chase offered.

Foreman laughed, "And Cameron just happened to sleep with the same guy? Little far fetched don't you think?"

"Hey, I'm just saying. Any idea at this point will help."

Keira smiled as she walked by. "Besides, if it was sexually transmitted Chase, you'd have it."

Chase's face glowed red, "What was that supposed to mean?"

Keira laughed aloud, "I think you know what I mean."

Foreman made a face at Chase, "You're sleeping with Cameron?"

"I-- uhh---ummm---no. No, I'm not."

"Sure." Keira slapped him on the shoulder. "And even if you weren't, we know you'd want to."

House strolled into the office and the team looked up at him expectantly. House stared back at them. "What? Do I look like a museum exhibit to you?"

Keira cocked her head to one side. "Well, this is usually where you walk in with some brilliant idea about what is wrong and we acknowledge that you were right and go and fix our patients."

"Sorry, Internet romances seemed to have kept me from my usual endeavors to save lives." House nodded his head towards them. "And what have all of you been doing? I have an excuse to be empty handed, do you?"

"Hey," Foreman said defensively. "We've been trying, unlike you. But we still have no leads."

Keira winked at Chase. "Chase thinks it could have been sexually transmitted."

Without making a face, House responded with, "If it was, Chase would have it."

Angrily, Chase yelled, "Why do _I_ have to be the one to have it?"

"Because we all know that you have been getting your rocks off with Cameron." House mused.

"For the last time, I'm not!"

"Sure." They all echoed in unison.

"What if it was Foreman?" Chase tried to divert the situation from him.

House thought about it for a second, "Foreman doesn't really like his white chocolate. Isn't that right, Foreman?"

Keira laughed hysterically and Foreman shook his head. "Can we please be professional, House?"

The phone that was at the center of the table rung and Keira answered it with a perky voice. "Good evening, Department of Diagnostic Medicine, Dr. Keira speaking." She listened for a moment. "I'm sorry, but we're busy...is it that bad?...this is a bad time...is it really necessary?...ok, I understand. We'll be there soon."

Keira hung up the phone and snatched her lab coat off of the coat rack. "We have to go. The Emergency Room is swamped."

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Jak busted through the emergency room doors and he was pushing a gurney with a blood soaked patient on it. Keira ran up, "To trauma room seven! Jak, what do we have?"

Jak was pushing the gurney along on the way to the trauma room and Chase ran beside the patient and tried to get some information. "Sir, do you know where you are?"

Jak looked at Keira for a second, stricken by her determination. "Patient apart of a building collapse. They are have difficultly breathing and fell into ventricular tachycardia on our way here. He has a laceration on his stomach that is causing massive blood loss and possibly a ruptured organ."

They arrived at the trauma room and before letting the doctors take over, Jak turned to Keira, "Want some coffee later?"

"Now is a bad time to be asking."

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Cuddy slowly walked out of the court room. It was overcast and the sound of sirens could be heard in the distance. _Must be something bad... _Cuddy thought to herself. She pictured what the ER must look like right now. Busy, with extra staff helping out and it would have been her to authorize that.

It's not like the trial went bad or anything. It went great. She won amazingly, but still wished that Stacy could have been there to be her lawyer. The CDC didn't have enough evidence to back up their claims, so they had to back out. _In your face CDC. _

But for some reason Cuddy still felt like she had done something wrong. Like she honestly screwed up protocol and was becoming just as bad as House. _No, that can't be. _

Cuddy just wanted to get back to work. She missed it actually. All of the paper work, staff, patients, and House. Yeah, she missed House all right. It was an uneasy thought, but a welcome one. _I hope Ashelin is holding up alright. Maybe I'll call her before I show up._

_------------------------------------------------------------------------_

Ashelin was still swamped with paperwork and was falling more than behind in returning phone calls and billing. On top of that she had to go to some meeting about some malpractice suit that a Dr. Ratner was causing the hospital in an hour.

If this was Cuddy's job, it was chaotic. How she managed to do this on a day to day basis was beyond her. There were more papers to worry about than medicine itself. Cuddy even participated in clinic duty and Ashelin found that not to be much fun at all. Patients were a pain and even bothering to come in with a cough was such a waste of a doctor's time.

The phone rang and she was afraid to even answer it. That thing just seemed to ring off the hook all day, every hour. It was annoying. "Hello? Cuddy? Thank god you called."

"How are things?" Cuddy asked.

"Chaotic, as usual. I'll never understand how you even stand to do this every day."

Cuddy laughed a little, "Welcome to my life. I won the trial."

Ashelin dropped he papers that she was holding. "You are kidding, right?! How?"

Cuddy smiled on the other end. It felt good to express her victory to someone else, yet somehow she managed to feel bad all at the same time. "The CDC didn't have enough evidence to back up their allegations. So I won."

"That's great!" Ashelin was happier for herself than anything. _I'd give Cuddy's job back to her in a heartbeat. _"Are you coming back now?"

"Sure am. I kind of miss being there with all of the chaos. I'll be there in an hour. See you then."

"Great! Bye." Ashelin leaned back in the chair. _Thank god… _

_----------------------------------------------------------------------------------_

"Foreman, hand me an intubation kit."

Foreman reached into one of the many drawers that lined the trauma room. He pulled out a bag of tools that consisted of "bag", a laryngoscope, and various pieces of tubing. He handed it to Keira.

Chase stood alongside of Keira; he was giving her a step by step on how to do an endotracheal intubation. "Ok…" Chase said. "Take the laryngoscope and slide it into to mouth and insert it into the vallecula."

Carefully, Keira guided the laryngoscope into the patient's mouth. "Foreman, prepare for suction."

"Good, now you should be able to see the glottic opening and the vocal cords. Now take the straight blade, using the laryngoscope as a guide, insert it into the epiglottis."

Keira pushed a crude looking blade into the patient's mouth. After that, she pushed some tubing past all of the blades and into the trachea. Foreman attached the "ambu" to the top of the tubing and began to manually ventilate. Keira watched the O2 stats rise and smiled with pride knowing that she successfully intubated her first patient.

Chase smiled with her. "Great work. Now we can move this man up to the OR and hopefully salvage whatever is left of him."

The next few hours were met with nothing but people who need stitching. Word had already gotten around that one patient had died in the OR. Keira hoped that it wasn't hers. Currently, she was in one of the exam rooms stitching up a patient.

"You know what, doctor?" The old woman said in a ragged old voice to Keira.

"I don't know. What?" Keira didn't even lift her head from the fourth stitch that she was putting in.

"All of this is madness. These metal heads and all of this war. I'll tell you what sweetheart, live while you can. You never know when it'll be over. Take care of those you love and never let one moment go by without letting them know that you love them. Or else you'll end up like me…" The old woman's voice became uneasy at the last line. "You don't want to be alone, trust me."

Keira finished up the fifth stitch on the hand and she began to wrap it in cloth. _Maybe…maybe that's what I'll do. _"Thank you, Miss."

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Cuddy strolled through the front doors of the hospital. It was almost completely empty in the clinic waiting room. She glanced around. Nurse Carol waved to Cuddy. "Welcome back!"

She smiled and greeted the nurses at the triage desk. What she didn't expect was to be tackled to the floor. Cuddy hit the floor with a thud and was being squeezed like a boa constrictor squeezes its prey. "Welcome back, Dr. Cuddy! Isn't it great to be back?"

Cuddy was gasping for breath. "Yeah…but…I do need…air…Allie…"

Allie jumped up and pulled Cuddy up from the floor. "I was just giving you a nice welcome back."

Cuddy shook her head. "Well, I would like to make it to my office alive, Allie. That would be nice."

"Alright…if you—hey!! You!!" Allie darted off across the lobby and jumped over chairs and tables stacked with magazines. She grabbed a frail looking woman headed towards the elevator and forcefully dragged her to the triage desk.

The woman was so stunned that she forgot to scream. Allie stood her I front of the nurses and Cuddy. "You forgot to sign in."

Cuddy threw her hands up in the air. "Allie! You cannot be assaulting patients or their relatives like that. You'll get us another lawsuit!"

Allie smiled oddly. "Well, you are so lucky that I have good intuitive sense."

"Oh, no you do not!!"

Allie reached into the woman's pocket and pulled out a packed of cocaine. "See. I told you I do. Carol, would you notify the police?"

Cuddy stared in awe. "Amazing…"

Nurse Carol patted Cuddy on the back. "Nice to be back, isn't it?"

Cuddy slowly walked to her office. "Yeah…nice…"

As Cuddy made her way to her office, she was greeted by Ashelin, who happily ushered her into her office. In the distance, she heard Allie screaming at another person who entered the lobby. Instead of stopping her, she let her go and assault another patient.

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House stomped into the ER as the team was finishing up lending a hand to the crisis. House limped over to the triage desk and grabbed the intercom. "Will the ducklings report to their mommy now. And I mean now, don't just stand there."

As the team approached House, they could hear snickers of other doctors and nurses. Foreman was the first to step to House. "Thanks for embarrassing us."

"Aww…was that sarcasm?" House cooed sarcastically. "Look, he takes after his mommy."

Keira saw the frustration on Foreman's face and changed the subject. "What do you want?"

"I have the answer to our little mutant patient problem."

"Really?" Chase smiled.

"Chemotherapy. It reverses the adverse effects of dark eco. I have no clue why, but who cares, it cures the patient." House rapped his cane in the floor.

"Great!" Keira bounced up. "I'll tell Tess."

"This isn't a one time fix." House called after Keira, and she stopped dead in her tracks. "She'll need it for the rest of her life."

Keira stopped and suddenly felt the pain the Tess would soon feel: the countless needs of chemotherapy, all of the infections that would plague her, and the constant hospitalizations that she'll need. She'll never be well again.

"I'll still tell her anyway." Keira headed out of the ER, with a sullen stride.

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Ashelin was reviewing what happened while Cuddy was gone. Cuddy listened intently, but none of these events were new to her. It was the same old things that she always heard, all of the time. After Ashelin finished, she apologized for all of the work that was left over.

"No, you did great." Cuddy quickly skimmed the leftover paperwork. "Did you like this position? You know, being a dean of medicine."

Ashelin admitted that she didn't find it too bad. Get past all of the paperwork and it isn't as bad as you think. "It wasn't too bad…"

"Would…would you ever be interested in being the dean of medicine?" Cuddy asked in a voice no louder than a whisper.

Ashelin shot Cuddy a confused glance. "What are you saying?"

Cuddy lowered her head and a tear trickled down her cheek. "I'm thinking about resigning."

_**Keira, M.D. Medical Terms Guide: Are you sick with confusion?**_

_**Ventricular Tachycardia:**_ Rapid heartbeat rhythm in which electrical impulses begin in the heart's ventricle (instead of the atrium), leading to inadequate blood flow and cardiac arrest.

_**Endotracheal Intubation:**_ Insertion of a tube into the trachea to maintain the airway. A tube passes directly through the between the vocal cords and into the trachea.

_**Laryngoscope:**_ instrument used to give a direct view of the patient's vocal cords during endotracheal intubation.

_**Vallecula:**_ space between the base of the tongue and the epiglottis.

_**Epiglottis:**_ A thin fold of skin that separates the trachea that goes into the lungs and the esophagus that goes into the stomach.

_**Chemotherapy: **_Use of chemical substances to prevent and treat diseases.

_**Please R and R and tell me what you think!!**_


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